Lake County looking to trim another layer of local government
Lake County is looking to trim its number of drainage districts, considered another layer of antiquated local government with taxing power.
On Thursday, a new Lake County Board committee will hold its inaugural meeting to consider issues regarding the districts, formed generations ago to help farmers move water off their properties.
Lake County appoints board members to serve on the mostly obscure districts that operate with varying levels of purpose, sophistication and public awareness.
The East Skokie Drainage District, for example, has a board that meets regularly and a website with meeting minutes, contact information and details about projects and other district operations.
Others rarely meet, and in some instances it's difficult to unearth information about how a given district does business.
"We should be conducting oversight of these governments we have appointing authority for," said Lake County Board member Adam Didech, chair of the Ad Hoc Drainage District Consolidation Committee.
The committee meets at 2 p.m. Thursday, at the Central Permit Facility, 500 W. Winchester Road, Libertyville.
A presentation on drainage district consolidation and dissolution processes is on the agenda, and the committee is expected to set goals and a work plan.
According to a county-produced video, the committee was created to "look for opportunities to consolidate local drainage districts by finding more efficient ways to manage flooding and stormwater in Lake County while providing cost savings."
The committee will be responsible for researching and reviewing the boundary of each drainage district, its work program, financial status and relationships with overlapping municipalities, the county and the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. There are nine active drainage districts in Lake County.
There had been 10 until February, when the county board dissolved the century-old Seavey Drainage District, a unit of government officials said had outlived its purpose.
The district for decades had been inactive as a taxing or meeting body. But the villages of Mundelein and Vernon Hills had been caretakers, investing millions to improve an important five-mile channel flowing to the Des Plaines River.
The action was symbolic but regarded as an example of easy pickings in an ongoing push to streamline layers of government and possibly taxes.
Going forward, considerations like existing assets and debts may take awhile to untangle. What entity would assume responsibility for projects or services in a given district also will affect decisions.
"It's going to take some time to make sure there are no unintended consequences," Didech said on the video.
"We don't want to flood anybody's land accidentally, so we're going to be thorough and careful and make sure we have the best system possible in managing stormwater runoff."