A snapshot of wasteful spending by local governments in Illinois

At the end of the summer, Chicago suburban residents paid their second property tax installment - shelling out more than they ever have before. About the same time these bills came due, a new poll conducted by the Center for State Policy found that 53 percent of current Illinois residents want to leave the state. The No. 1 reason why? High taxes.

So what are suburban residents getting for their high tax dollars?

Let's start with: $13,000 on food at Panera Bread and Portillo's Home Kitchen spent by the Village of Schaumburg.

New research on local government spending in Chicago's largest suburban neighborhoods reveals nearly $16 million of wasteful spending during fiscal years 2015 to 2018.

My research confirms what so many Illinoisans already instinctively know: Illinois politicians are often poor stewards of taxpayer dollars. Just take a peek at more of the line items I found in the Village of Schaumburg's financial records. In addition to Panera Bread and Portillo's, the large suburb spent frivolously on food and fun, doling out over $15,000 in a series of payments to sweetservices.com and smileycookie.com.

And small fees add up. The village spent $21,400 on t-shirt printing and $25,000 on flowers from places like 1-800-FLOWERS.com.

Not only is Schaumburg spending carelessly on items that have nothing to do with providing core government services, but the village was the third-highest spender of lobbying efforts in the state, topping out at $210,000, and was also the top spender in the promotions and advertising category, with a total of nearly $500,000 over the three-year period.

This spending includes more than $43,000 for brochures, primarily to promote the Prairie Center for the Arts. But it also includes, absurdly, $4,700 on a guide called "Bike to Metra" that maps routes residents can use to ride to their local train stop - something Google Maps can accomplish for free, while giving live updates on traffic and construction.

They round out promotional spending with nearly $14,000 on payments to companies that make various knickknacks such as pens, bags, beer koozies, bottle openers, and drinkware.

Finally, the village dumped more than $1 million into tourism, even as Schaumburg's tourism industry and convention center were expected to lose nearly $7 million in 2016.

This does not seem like a good use of taxpayer money.

Research has shown that people are more willing to pay taxes when they trust their elected officials and see valuable services in return for their tax dollars. In Cook County, median property taxes have increased $1,700 over the past 10 years, leaving homeowners with a second mortgage that's squeezing their family budgets to the breaking point. Meanwhile, Illinois residents have the lowest levels of trust and confidence in their politicians nationwide.

Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, and they deserve not to have it wasted. Getting the property tax relief suburban Chicagoans deserve will ultimately require changes in structural overspending, such as pension reform at the state level that would give local governments the tools they need to manage their own budgets. But eliminating wasteful spending is essential and will go a long way toward regaining the public's trust.

Next, we need to take it a step further. All local governments should be required to maintain a website that contains basic financial and budget information, giving their homeowners and taxpayers the information needed to critically examine how public money is being used.

Because Schaumburg isn't alone in this. It's just one snapshot of careless suburban spending across the state.

Adam Schuster is director of budget and tax research at the Illinois Policy Institute, a Chicago-based think tank that promotes free markets and limited government. His full report titled, "Waste Watch: Nearly $100M of waste in Illinois state and local government" is online at illinoispolicy.org.