Most Downers Grove Township Poor Aid Goes To Overhead

DARIEN, IL – Just 40 percent of Downers Grove Township's aid to the poor actually goes to the poor, according to its documents.

Under state law, townships have three mandated jobs – maintenance of roads in unincorporated areas, assessment of property values and distribution of "general assistance."

The assistance function may be the least known. General assistance money, which comes from property taxes, is for those with absolutely no income; many recipients have pending applications for governmental help such as Social Security's supplemental income.

In Downers Grove Township, which includes parts of Darien, Hinsdale and Burr Ridge, $151,000 was spent from its general assistance budget last year. Of that, just $60,753 was spent on actual assistance.

Among the overhead expenses were $63,860 for salaries and $18,187 for employees' health insurance.

The township's elected supervisor, Paul Coultrap, did not respond to a message for comment.

In Illinois, township supervisors have sole authority over general assistance.

Other area townships also spent most of their assistance money on overhead – 90 percent in Lyons Township, 77 percent in Addison Township and 59 percent in York Township.

In the nonprofit world, CharityWatch considers a group to be highly efficient if it spends less than 25 percent of its budget on overhead.

In Illinois townships, a specific property tax levy is designated for general assistance. It can only be spent on that purpose.

In an interview, Jerry Crabtree, executive director of the Springfield-based Township Officials of Illinois, spoke generally about general assistance budgets, but did not want to comment on any specific township.

He said the general assistance account can go toward the overhead of distributing the money. But he said the money could not be spent on unrelated items in the township government.

He said his downstate township had not seen a general assistance case in years. But he said that differs in other places.

"General assistance is not a blanket benefit," Crabtree said. "It is the benefit of last resort."

John Valle, York's supervisor, said his township's overhead was justified.

"We have to have employees to give help. Our employees are trained," he said in an interview. "It costs money to have programs. We do offer a lot."