Issue Position: Local and State Government

Issue Position

Illinoisans suffer from the second-highest property tax rates in the nation.

Their state is the third most corrupt in the nation.

And driving this expensive and corrupt reality on the local level is the fact that Illinois has more units of local government than any other state in the nation. With 6,963 units of local government, Illinois beats its nearest competitor by more than 1,800.

Florida, which is larger than Illinois, has far fewer units of local government, with just 1,650. And Illinois has more layers of general-purpose local government than any other state in the country. Sixty one percent of the state's residents live under three layers of general-purpose local government (municipal, township or county governments); in 40 other states, residents never have more than two layers.

This doesn't include special districts, such as libraries, parks, forest preserve, fire protection, sanitation, transportation and even mosquito abatement districts. In fact, in some areas of Illinois, citizens have up to 16 different local government agencies operating in their area. I want to reduce and consolidate these unnecessary units of government saving our area many needed funds that could then help to reduce our debt and fund our schools.

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