Consolidation will help townships

On October 12, a letter from Hanover Township Supervisor Brian McGuire suggests the League of Women Voters Palatine Area did not do adequate research on our call to decrease the redundancy and archaic units of government such as townships. Over a two-year period, our members observed township board of directors meetings. We also conducted numerous interviews with current and former township supervisors, trustees and a highway commissioner.

We studied several reports including one titled "Delivering Efficient, Effective, and Streamlined Government to Illinois Taxpayers," a final report submitted by the Task Force on Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates (December 17, 2015). In addition, we met with key researchers from Northern Illinois University's Center for Government Studies.

Current and former township supervisors told us that townships are duplicative units of government and could be eliminated. We observed practices and budgets that we felt were abuses of taxpayer money.

Let's be clear: Townships certainly offer extra services, however, the state statute defines the township roles as: assess properties, provide financial assistance under the General Assistance Program to qualifying residents and families, and maintain unincorporated roads and bridges.

Without question, townships offer many services in their local areas. At issue is whether those services could be offered more efficiently and cost effectively another way. At a time when Illinois is in discussions about high property taxes and the flight of citizens from the state, we should all be looking for ways to better meet our communities' needs. With more than 7,000 units of government in Illinois - much higher than any other state - consolidation or elimination of government units should be an ongoing effort. This is truly a structural change that we all need to evaluate.

Laura Davis

Inverness