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In The Lyons Of Fire

The Pioneer Press papers in the western suburbs just published two news stories on an agency we’ve been following quite closely – the Lyons Township School Treasurer’s Office, whose top administrator resigned amid allegations of financial improprieties.

The stories are worth a read, although they do slightly mischaracterize a BGA reform recommendation. We haven’t “suggested” that the agency be disbanded – rather we suggested that the idea be discussed.

Regardless, here are links to the articles:

http://lagrange.suntimes.com/16850766-781/clean-up-in-process-for-lyons-township-school-treasurers-office.html

http://lagrange.suntimes.com/16873887-781/treasurers-office-shelves-some-suggestions.html

BGA Backs New State Disclosure Effort

Improved anti-corruption filing will help keep lawmakers in check

By Emily Miller  
Emily is the BGA’s Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator. Contact her at emiller@bettergov.org. Follow her on Twitter @EJMill.

Having information about potential conflicts of interest held by public officials is vital to ensuring our government is accountable to taxpayers—not to private or personal interests.

But in Illinois, good government groups commonly refer to the current economic disclosure form lawmakers and other government officials are required to file as ”a waste of paper.”

Even though the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act has required elected officials and high-ranking government employees to file economic disclosure forms for over 40 years, the form is so vague and ineffective that 85% of those returning the form in Cook County filled in every question with the phrase “Not Applicable.”

That’s why the Better Government Association is backing a bill that will require Illinois lawmakers and other high-ranking state and county officials to file a revamped economic disclosure form designed to ferret out conflicts of interest.

SB3941, introduced by Senator Dan Kotowski (D-33) with support from Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, requires officials to report potential conflicts of interest by asking specific questions about assets, gifts, and debts. In addition, for the first time, officials will have to report outside sources of income and lobbyists who are family members or with whom they have close economic ties.

The legislation also lays the groundwork for the state to move toward an online filing system that will further improve transparency of potential conflicts of interest held by government officials.

Specifically, the legislation will require officials to report:

• Assets valued at more than $10,000
• Additional sources of income in excess of $2,500
• Debts over $5,000 incurred by or owed to the filer, other than those owed to a financial institution.
• Lobbyists with whom the filer has an economic relationship
• Family members of the filer, including a spouse, child, step-child, parent, step-parent or sibling, who are lobbyists registered with any unit of government in Illinois
• Gifts with a value of $500 or more

The BGA will be working hard alongside reform-minded lawmakers to pass SB3941 in January.

Budget Crisis Task Force Examines Illinois’ Debt Woes

The mounting debt piling up at the state and local levels threatens to prolong the nation’s economic problems and delay recovery.

The recently-formed State Budget Crisis Task Force looked at the debt woes of six state, including Illinois, and found the growing list of pension and other debt obligations is overtaking those states’ finances and is a major threat to their stability.

Here is a link to that report:

http://www.statebudgetcrisis.org/wpcms/

To Cut Costs, Suburbs Eye Police Dept. Merger

The municipalities of Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills are considering a proposed merger of their police departments—a move that would save the villages collectively an estimated $700,000 to $800,000. Earlier this year, the Village of Winfield studied consolidating police services with surrounding villages or contracting with the County Sheriff Department.

Consolidating entities and sharing services are options for municipalities looking to streamline government and more efficiently utilize taxpayer dollars.

Read about the proposed Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills police department merger and residents’ opinions on it in the Tribune article here.

State’s High Court Hears IG’s Case

http://bit.ly/wkvn9Z

The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments recently in a case that will help determine what power the city of Chicago’s main watchdog has to investigate City Hall. The BGA is closely following the case.

http://progressillinois.com/posts/content/2012/09/21/watchdog-takes-emanuel-state-supreme-court

Can We Trust The Infrastructure Trust?

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust—a new, city-created non-profit that seeks to make possible private financing of public infrastructure projects—recently passed its bylaws.

Those rules include a provision granting the city Inspector General (IG) the authority to investigate actions of the Trust.

However, the Sun-Times editorial board argues this provision may be more show than substance because the actual city ordinance that created and granted power to the Trust did not grant the IG power to investigate it.

For instance, should a contractor or sister city agency refuse to cooperate with the IG, the ordinance outweighs the bylaws, thereby bringing the ability to enforce the bylaws’ IG provision into question.

In addition to sharing concern about the IG’s role in monitoring the trust, the BGA is also questioning the bylaws’ effectiveness in regards to following the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act.

Read the Sun-Times Editorial

Numbers Are In! Illinois Leads In Most Government Bodies

Illinois has more units of government than any other state and activists’ efforts to reduce that number have come up short.

The State Journal Register reports that Illinois is home to almost 7,000 different bodies each with its own administrative needs, equipment, budget, and taxing ability.

Coming in a far second is Pennsylvania with about 5,000 units.

Despite cries to consolidate overlapping school districts, abolish unnecessary townships and streamline government services, the number of units of Illinois government has decreased by only twenty-six in the last five years.

The BGA policy unit has called for a reduction in the number of stand-alone government units along with the consolidation and sharing of government services and systems where they overlap.

Specifically, a BGA investigation found that Illinois has more townships than any other state, and that of many of these townships provide services already or otherwise easily provided by other municipalities.

Read the State Journal Register article

Check Out Chicago’s New Infrastructure Trust Bylaws

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust–a newly-created, city-backed program that aims to find private and public funding for Chicago and related public agency projects–recently held its first meeting.

As a non-profit entity, the Trust will have to file articles of incorporation and bylaws with the state that explain the Trusts purpose and the basic rules it intends to adhere to.

A copy of the proposed bylaws, which the BGA requested, is available below, or by clicking here.

The Infrastructure Trust Board, which governs the trust, plans to vote on the proposed bylaws at its next meeting, scheduled for 10 am on August 28th at the Chicago Cultural Center.

The BGA will evaluate the bylaws but also wants to know what you think about them and invites your comments.

Bylaws of Chicago Infrastructure Trust (PDF)

Bylaws of Chicago Infrastructure Trust (Text)

Municipalities’ New Frontier: Ending Local Debt Disaster

“When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”  — President John F. Kennedy

JFK’s quote is an older and classier version of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s oft-repeated admonition to “never let a serious crisis go to waste” but the sentiment still applies today, especially when we’re assessing the financial dangers and opportunities sweeping over this area’s suburbs, towns and small cities.

A recent Better Government Association investigation found many Northern Illinois municipalities are buckling under the weight of a whopping public debt that threatens to forever alter the very standard of living that traditionally makes many hometowns desirable places to live, work and raise families.

We know that Chicago and Cook County have debt burdens but the raw numbers for our suburbs are also terrifying: Taxpayers are on the hook for a mind-blowing $140 billion in debt, or an average $35,774 per household in Cook County suburbs, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

Scary as these figures are, municipalities can take corrective action to lighten their debt loads and save these hometowns from financial collapse. Consider:

Cutting needless government. Muni leaders, and the voters, should support getting rid of unnecessary government entities that collect taxpayers’ money but offer too little in return. One example: The BGA has long favored dumping irrelevant townships, especially those in northern Cook County, which horde taxes, spend too much and provide little value to residents. Already, Evanston leaders are looking to drop its namesake township and save at least $400,000. With a record-breaking 2,000-plus government units in Cook County alone, there are plenty of candidates for the ash heap of history. Time, and money, is wasting.

Merging, consolidating or outsourcing. Tough financial times cry out for smart reorganization and cost cutting. Dump outmoded or unneeded departments or functions while outsourcing other in-house jobs in an honest and transparent manner—one that sidesteps the pitfalls of the much-hated Chicago parking meter deal. Furthermore, municipalities must aggressively seek to save money via appropriate cross-border mergers and shared services with other nearby towns or surrounding counties, including the option of forming new fire and police protection districts. Nothing should be overlooked or considered taboo.

Selling assets. Every suburb, village or town has a spare building, patch of land or garage that can be sold, hopefully at a premium, to private investors and used to pay down debt. Yes, spinning off these assets is tricky business. But in an era of mounting public obligations, unloading some public assets must be seriously explored.

Making a debt plan. The BGA policy unit found very few municipalities have a formal debt policy–an official guideline for making decisions about taking on more debt. A    policy can force municipalities to face some hard realities about the perils of too much spending and not enough thrift. Of course, a debt policy is only as good as the decision makers following it but having one is a best practice worth implementing.

Cleaning up local public pensions. With astonishing regularity, the BGA has uncovered suburbs and towns abusing the public pension system. Some examples: Double dipping, where employees get multiple pensions while working for the same employer; Pension-spiking, where end-of-career raises boost pension payments for life; Pension “tacking”, which allows outside consultants and contractors to improperly join public pension rolls even though they were not actual employees. It’s time for all municipalities to honestly re-examine their pension practices and end these costly and wasteful abuses.

Yes, the elephant in every City Hall is the multi-billions of dollars in public pension liabilities, which can be traced to the state’s decades–old mismanagement, inattention and lack of political will. Those liabilities are growing like a fungus for nearly every suburb, town and small city.

It’s a giant problem that must be remedied or we’re all in deep trouble.

In the interim, however, municipalities would profit from JFK’s advice — recognize the danger of this local debt crisis and use it as an opportunity to regain control of their finances and fate.

 Robert Reed is the BGA’s director of programming and investigations. Contact him at rreed@bettergov.org. Follow him on Twitter @bobreedbga.