Local Government Consolidation on Rauner’s List

A press release from Gov. Bruce Rauner:

Gov. Rauner establishes Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandate Task Force

Sanguinetti to chair task force

ELMHURST – Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner today signed Executive Order 15-15 creating the Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandate Task force.

Evelan Sanguinetti

Evelyn Sanguinetti

Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti will chair the task force, which is charged with finding efficiencies and encouraging streamlining of local government functions.

“Illinois leads the nation with nearly 7,000 units of local government,” Rauner said.

“Many of these unnecessary layers of government are why hardworking families end up paying some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

Task force members will be appointed by the Governor, and include representatives of units of local government, school districts, and the General Assembly from throughout Illinois.

The task force is required to submit its findings to the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2015, upon which time it will be dissolved.

Governor Rauner was joined today by DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, whose ACT Initiative is saving DuPage County millions of dollars throughout the next 20 years.

“We need to lessen the burden of unfunded mandates imposed by the state on local governments while also encouraging streamlining of local government functions in order to save taxpayers money,” Rauner added.

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Sanguinetti and newly-appointed State Comptroller Leslie Munger will speak at next Saturday’s Republican Dinner at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn. Details here.


Comments

Local Government Consolidation on Rauner’s List — 7 Comments

  1. We need to delete all the boards here.

    Just let the people decide and leave those numbskulls out of it!

    A local ad hoc committee could do a better job of running our local government.

  2. DuPage County’s website explains why they include neither the employer IMRF pension contribution, nor the employer healthcare contribution, in their Public Act 97-0609 (PA 97-0609) Compensation Report.

    IMRF employer contributions are variable (vary by year, employer, and IMRF plan of which there are 3 – Regular, SLEP, ECO) and roughly 2x – 3x more than employee contributions.

    There is no State Contribution to the IMRF pension fund.

    IMRF has a form it sends annually to each employer listing employer contribution rate(s) to IMRF.

    “Final Notice of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Contribution Rate for Calendar Year 20xx.”

    That form should be posted on every taxing district website that contributes to IMRF.

    It can be obtained from the employer or IMRF via FOIA.

    And since the pension fund is IMRF, the employer and employee each contribute 6.2% to Social Security.

    This from the DuPage County website.

    First the excuse for not posting employer pension contribution.

    “DuPage County pension costs are not paid from employer to employee and thus are not required disclosure in Public Act 97-0609; however if you are interested in more information about pension costs, please see the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund website, or see our IMRF GASB 50 Disclosure and Veteran’s Assistance Commission GASB 50 Disclosure.”

    Then the excuse for not posing employer healthcare contribution on the employee compensation report.

    “DuPage County health insurance costs provided to county employees are not paid directly from employer to employee and thus are not required disclosure in Public Act 97-0609; however if you are interested in more information about health insurance costs, please see the 2014 Employee & Employer health plan contribution table.”

    Rather than the taxpayer having to hunt and peck for employer compensation information, it sure would be nice if DuPage County would just include the information on the report and save the taxpayer time thereby increasing transparency.

    Since pensions and often healthcare are arguably the most lucrative aspect of most municipal employee compensation, and since the taxpayer funds the lucrative benefits, of course the taxpayer should know the employer costs.

    Keep this in mind the next time you read a taxing district compensation report.

    TO learn employer contribution to IMRF for the taxing districts on your property tax bill, submit a FOIA to the taxing district or IMRF.

    The DuPage County Employee Compensation report is thus missing: Employee name, Employer Pension Contribution, Employer Healthcare Contribution, Employer Dental, Employer Vision, Vacation Payout, Sick Leave Buyback, Personal Day Payout/Buyback, Vehicle Allowance, Stipend, and Clothing Allowance.

  3. Illinois has a systemic problem: As long as our elected representatives know that we, the people, can’t change the constitution, they can refuse to make fundamental changes, and none of them will be voted out for this failure.

    But if we could amend the constitution ourselves, then we, the people, could institute the necessary changes, such as freezing property taxes (like they did in California and Massachusetts) and term limiting our legislators.

    So the best thing Rauner could do would be to push to change the Constitution so voters can initiate amendments.

    Until that is done, the rest of the changes are window dressing.

    If that is done, the necessary substantial changes will follow as surely as night follows day.

  4. Bruno Behrend wrote a book on just how to accomplish constitutional change, even with Madigan in office.

  5. One of the best parts of this task force is that it is to do its job then disolve itself.

    That’s a change from committees that outlive their usefulness.

  6. First the task force should release transparency information on a website that can be downloaded to spreadsheet by the public, on all the units of government, with reports.

    Then all the data will be available to the task force and public so knowledgeable and defendable decisions can be made.

    Pay, healthcare benefits, pension benefits, all the perks such as sick days, vacation days, personal days, any other types of days such as sabattical days, tuition reimbursement, bond debt service (schedule of future bond payments), unfunded pension and retiree healthcare liabilities, bills outstanding, bank loans, revenue sources, expenditures / checkbook register, etc.
    The lack of government transparency in the information age is glaring.

  7. If you want to know what your local government is contributing to IMRF on behalf of your workers, ask your workers.

    Actually walk out into the street when you see the guys in the hole repairing the lines that bring you clean water and take away your filth, and ask them.

    Actually, I’ll tell you what my husband and his employer contribute for his IMRF pension:

    my husband contributes 4.5% of his gross pay to the IMRF pension (he’s regular, not SLEP or ECO, which both contribute more), and the Village he works for contributes *nothing for his personal benefit*.

    Because the employer contribution is not credited to a specific employee’s account, it doesn’t directly benefit these workers that you think are living so high on the hog with a golden parachute.

    My husband also puts 2.5% of his pay into a “defined contribution” plan (a 457, which is similar to a 401(k)), for which there is no match.

    He also pays into Social Security and Medicare, as does his employer, 6.2% each.

    I contributed half my salary to a 401(k) when I was working and we both contribute to IRAs.

    We’re able to afford to do this because we have a small mortgage on a small house in a Village with low property tax rates for residents (how does ZERO sound?!), don’t carry car payments, and don’t waste a bunch of money on entertainment expenses – our park district has wonderful low cost programs for our kids.

    I don’t want my Village forced into a consolidation with surrounding Villages.

    I like knowing everyone on the Village Board and the Library Board and the Park District Board.

    I don’t want a bunch of strangers making decisions for my street.

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