Most Of Elmhurst Townships' Poor Aid Goes To Overhead

ELMHURST, IL – Just 23 percent of Addison Township's aid to the poor actually goes to the poor, according to its documents. In York Township, the rate is 41 percent.

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 Addison Township, which includes north Elmhurst, $362,000 was spent from its general assistance budget last year. Of that, just $83,971 was spent on actual assistance.

Among the overhead expenses were $198,217 for salaries and $28,859 for the township's utilities.

The township's elected supervisor, Dennis Reboletti, who recently lost in his race for state representative, did not respond to a message for comment.

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

In York Township, which includes south Elmhurst, $423,346 was spent on general assistance last year. Of that, $171,881 went toward actual assistance. Other expenses included $178,978 for salaries and $66,380 for health insurance.

In an interview, 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. "It costs money to have programs. We do offer a lot."

Other area townships also spent most of their assistance money on overhead – 90 percent in Lyons Township and 60 percent in Downers Grove 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."