Gov. Pritzker's township consolidation proposal stalls

Yahoo

26-03-2025

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — During Governor J.B.. Pritzker's budget address, he proposed a plan that would change the number of local governments. The proposal would consolidate smaller townships across the state. The idea didn't get much traction in the Capitol.
Some Republicans supported the idea of the bill but argue that the language in the bill could have a negative impact on services the small communities rely on.
Gov. Pritzker's idea was filed in both chambers by Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Machesney Park) and Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). The House bill aims to dissolve all townships with a population of 500 or less in the next two years. The Senate bill suggests similar changes, with also consolidating townships with populations of 5,000 or less to merge with surrounding townships or join the counties in which they are located.
New Illinois law addresses law enforcement misconduct while investigating prostitution
Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) said the merger would slow services and raise taxes.
'When you force people to do this, make no mistake about it, it will raise the property tax to the people I represent,' Rose said.
With the state's high number of local governments, the bill aims to make it more efficient and cut costs on maintaining smaller governments. Any responsibilities townships had, such as cemeteries, road maintenance, general assistance like welfare and property assessment would be transferred to the counties.
Sen. Chris Balkema (R-Pontiac) said the bill could be improved by removing the words 'mandate' and 'requirement.' He filed his version of the bill which will allow people from both sides to petition and go through a referendum if they want to dissolve townships.
'We can't require things in large geographical sections of the state where few folks between townships and the counties are mandated to do things that are not going to fit them and survive.' Balkema said. 'So let's put language out there that reduces some of the bureaucracy that exists today. Let's work together to do a grassroots up.'
Currently, Illinois leads as the state with the most units of government, with nearly 7,000 units as of two years ago. The idea behind the bill is to reduce the number and make sure local governments run efficiently.
'This proposal empowers Illinois taxpayers to reduce duplicate taxing bodies, increasing the efficiency of service provision to local communities and saving taxpayers money,' a flyer from the Governor's office advocating for the idea reads.
The Senate bill was sent back to the assignment committee.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.