Editorial: Spend township aid funds on needy, not salaries
We've seen first hand the good township general assistance programs can do. They're sometimes the front line of relief for people who run into serious financial trouble right here in our own communities.
So it's particularly upsetting to see the statistics laid out in Staff Writer Jake Griffin's Suburban Tax Watchdog column.
Forty-five suburban townships in six counties spent $1.4 million more to administer general assistance than they devoted to actual financial aid.
In other words, less than half the money that property owners pay in a special tax for general assistance actually goes to the needy.
The rest goes largely to salaries of township employees who handle aid programs, plus other administrative costs.
Some examples:
• Avon Township, based in Round Lake Park, tapped the general assistance fund for $141,322 in salaries and overhead in 2014. The township contributed just $10,740 to those in need.
• Maine Township, based in Park Ridge, spent $611,221 in general assistance funds for operational costs. It gave out $297,411 in aid to needy residents, the most of any of the 45 townships.
• Schaumburg Township spent $445,979 on administering general assistance, and gave $250,048 in actual aid.
• Addison Township spent $273,362 of the general assistance funds for salaries and administration and gave $79,507 in aid to residents.
The list goes on.
Why aren't needy people getting the tax dollars levied for that purpose? And why are we spending so much to deliver relatively paltry amounts of aid?
This isn't the first time we've seen townships pay big sums to do small jobs.
In 2011, Griffin wrote about some suburban township road commissioners getting sizable salaries for maintaining just a few miles of township-controlled roads.
When it comes to general assistance, some township officials told Griffin they follow strict state income guidelines that mean many people don't qualify for aid. Several said focusing on dollars fails to take into account the work their staffs do helping to direct people to other possible sources of assistance.
We have no doubt the staff members are helpful and good-hearted. They surely would love to have more funds to help their clients - and it turns out they could, if the general assistance money was being spent the way it was intended.
We need to reserve the assistance money for helping people who need it.
If money's not being distributed because it's too difficult for people to qualify, townships need to tackle that problem, either legislatively or by finding alternative ways to provide help that have less stringent rules.
After that, if townships can't find enough needy people, they should reduce the tax levy.
It's that simple.
We're getting tired of lawmakers having to write bills to correct problems like this one. But since it might be the only way to make a change, how about a law that township salaries must come out of the general fund, which has its own tax levy?
If there aren't enough general funds, townships should make a case to voters why they need more money.
Five townships - Batavia, Cuba, Leyden, Vernon and Virgil - don't use any general assistance tax dollars for salaries or administrative costs.
They spent a combined $273,802 last year, all of it on aid for residents.
We call on other townships to follow their example.
Then, more general assistance money can go to help more people, the way it was meant to be.