From Bob Anderson, first published in the Northwest Herald and posted here with his permission:
Stop the township double-dipping
Illinois’ nation leading 1,432 township governments are famously known for their deep ties to nepotism, cronyism, patronage and waste.
What is hidden from the general public, by those who rule this extra layer of government and taxation, is that if you are a township official (Supervisor, Clerk, Assessor or Road Commissioner) or an employee you receive two pensions!
Oh, by the way, how many pensions are you receiving, or may receive?
Retired township officials and employees receive taxpayer funded pensions from two sources, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) and from Social Security.
Note: IMRF pensions are subsidized by property taxes, Illinois’ remaining five state pension funds do not receive one cent from property taxes.
They are subsidized with Illinois’ state income tax.
What is also hidden from the general public is that if you are a Township Supervisor you may also, simultaneously, be a County Board Member, receiving taxpayer funded paychecks and benefits from both governments.
Another township hidden gem is that a Township Supervisor or a Township Assessor can, simultaneously, be an Illinois elected State Senator or State Representative, and of course, collect another taxpayer funded paycheck with benefits.
Townships are a Political Tar Pit!
If you support townships you support township government double-dipping at taxpayer’s expense.
Townships?
Get rid of them! Saves money!
Put an end to township double-dipping!
Double-dipping is political corruption!
This man hasn’t a clue what Townships really do to help the truly poor, battered women, etc.
What have you done to help situations like that,Bob?
The most exercise you get is running off at the mouth and jumping to conclusions.
Your bestie, AL Zielinski, who saved the rich people of Lakewood 10% in EAV boasts about not only double dipping, but boasted that there was no law stopping him from being Grafton’s ASSessor and Boone’s, essentially getting two checks and possibly 3 pensions, right??
Why haven’t they plugged this loophole yet?
Let’s get going on this.
Funny that 80% of the people in McHenry Township who voted in the last two elections disagree with Bob.
So how many people are actually receiving the double pensions or holding down two public positions?
Come on Bob, you and the rest of the Three Stooges on the McHenry Township board are rather loose with throwing out accusations and innuendo (like calling for forensic audits but refusing to say why) so lets start naming names and putting out the figures.
And speaking of wasting taxpayer money, tell us about commissioning cost/benefit studies that are never released, repeatedly putting referendums that an 80% majority said “no” to back on the ballot and hiring a high-priced independent attorney to cover your tail.
By the way, using taxpayer dollars to pay for something that you are not legally obligated to pay for (like the cost/benefit study that arrived after the due date) could be construed to be misappropriation of public funds which is grounds for removing an elected official from office.
Putting the township dissolution referendum on the ballot repeatedly is also harassment against the township employees who will once again have to fear for their livelihoods.
Your job as a trustee is to represent the wishes of the electors in McHenry Township. Here’s another reminder: in this country the majority rules!
When 80% of the people tell you “NO” they mean “NO”.
You and your two minions on the board can still provide one great service to the people of McHenry Township – RESIGN.
Guess you were not reading McHenry County Blog when the Executive Summary of the cost-beneift study was published:
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2020/02/25/mchenry-township-consolidation-cost-benefit/
In 2014, Evanston eliminated its township.
Evanston assumed township responsibilities and saved nearly $780,000. 😊🇺🇸
And yet the 2 others with Snowplow Bob keep up their bullsh*t.
They should resign, they do not represent the people of the township, only their own petty sour apples.
Bob worked for the school driving bus and gets a IMRF pension?
Bob paid into Social Security and gets a pension?
Isn’t Bob a double dipper?
Township employees are force to pay into both IMRF and SS out of their total compensation, to Bob that means Employees don’t deserve the appropriate payback, but Bob does?
IMRF is in great financial shape, the state pension funds are not even in poor shape.
I know one thing, Jimmy Condon who runs McHenry Township is the biggest crook since Bob Miller.
Anderson is an old marine who can’t be silenced.
Townships a tar pit?
Tar is a very useful natural resource as anybody in Trinidad can tell you.
How about something more accurate: overloaded cesspool.
Belleville Township was eliminated when people, including my parents, finally realized it was a gigantic waste!
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/belleville-votes-to-dissolve-township-save-taxpayers-260000-per-year-starting-may-2017/
Belleville Township collected over half a million dollars from taxpayers in 2015. Yet, its only function has been to administer financial aid to about 40 qualifying residents. Of the nearly $550,000 tax dollars collected, only a third, or $175,000 of that money, actually went toward general assistance and community projects. The other two-thirds, $375,000, went toward paying for six employee and administrative salaries, as well as other administrative expenses.
This township is one example of the thousands of redundant and unnecessary governmental units taxpayers are funding, but from which they receive little benefit. Townships are an outdated form of local government and often do not perform services distinct from their overlapping municipalities. In some cases, townships only add to the cost of duplicative layers of government, which burden taxpayers without providing value. These sorts of government entities contribute to Illinois’ growing debt, waste and corruption. It’s hard to keep track of government officials with so many units of government.
In fact, Illinois has more than 7,000 units of local government – more than any other state in the nation – and each of these units of government adds to Illinois’ high tax burden. The average Illinois resident lives under six layers of government, which could include a county, township, city and any other special taxing districts, such as a library district or a park district. Some areas have even more layers of government. Elgin residents, for example, pay taxes to 16 different government entities.
With so many government entities, it’s no wonder Illinois has the highest property tax burden in the nation.
And we need townships why?
To give out money to illegal aliens and keep up dynasties like the Millers?
My Township Supervisor just died, but there seem to have been some financial irregularities.
The Algonquin Township Road Districts reduced Levy was $3.6 million!
What is the amount that township itself took from the tax payers?
How much did Bob Anderson’s Township take from the public?
How much did the McHenry Township Road Dist take from the public?
How much for Nunda?
These townships are bloated waste cases
Elimination of a township (or all of the townships in a county) doesn’t eliminate the services (providing of General Assistance, road maintenance and, outside Cook County, assessment) mandated by state law.
Those mandated services are required to be taken over either by a coterminous municipality or, in most cases, the county (as there are so few coterminous townships in Illinois).
The question then becomes whether such units are capable of providing such services at a greater cost savings.
Anderson only sees what he wants to see and is too pig-headed to listen to reason. If it doesn’t align to Bob’s World, it’s bad. Blah, blah, blah.
Surprised he’s still breathing.