Rauner Task Force Gives 27 Recommendations for Local Government Consolidation

With nearly 7,000 units of government, Illinois has about 2,000 more than any other state in the nation, resulting in a behemoth bureaucratic industry that costs state taxpayers upwards of $60 billion annually.

To address the glut of local taxing bodies, Gov. Bruce Rauner in February 2015 issued an executive order that commissioned the Task Force on Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates to find ways to reduce the number of local government units in Illinois and provide homeowners with property tax relief.

At the DuPage County Mayors and Managers Conference in Oak Brook on Monday, the task force’s chairwoman, Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, in consultation with Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies, presented Rauner with 27 recommendations outlined in a 400-page report she says could streamline local government efficiency, reduce costs to taxpayers and lower property tax rates.

Here are brief summaries of the 27 recommendations you should know about, and why some of the proposals have been called “poison pills” that will derail consolidation efforts.

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