The district’s manager defended its services and expertise. “I don’t know that the county health department is equipped to do the work that we do,” said Douglas Wright.
Political Endurance
The endurance of special purpose districts is a tribute to the politics of public-sector budgeting and the desire to evade spending limits. The 1870 Illinois Constitution included rigid expenditure restrictions on local governments, prompting the state legislature to authorize the creation of special purpose districts, starting with sanitary districts in 1907.
Then came fire protection and mosquito abatement in 1927; soil-and-water conservation and tuberculosis sanitary districts in 1937; public water in 1945; parks in 1951; cemeteries in 1957 and roads two years later. That was only the beginning.
Delegates to the 1970 constitutional convention sought to stem the growth by lifting tax limitations on municipalities and counties. Yet legislators continued to create more, including forest preserves, libraries, roads, museums, civic centers, and rescue squads.
To their supporters, the taxing districts make good political sense as they don’t have to compete with police departments and others in annual budget battles in municipalities and counties. They’re well protected in Springfield, the state capital, through lobbying associations representing them.
That’s all the more reason they need greater oversight and consolidation, said Msall of the Civic Federation.
“It is bewildering to people in Illinois who look at this situation and say, ‘How can we not consolidate our local governments when we have more than twice the number of local governments of any state in the country and have a difficult time paying for our most basic services?’ ” Msall said.
They’re also often hidden from public view. Some don’t have their own websites. They schedule their meetings at the same time as county or village board sessions. Others resist inquiries for information, even from elected officials.
Two government entities caught Cronin’s attention after he became DuPage County chairman in 2010. Federal audits found the county’s housing authority misspent or failed to account for $10 million, and its water commission accidentally spent $69 million in budget reserves.