A call for action to reduce the size and cost of Illinois’ nation-leading 8,918 units of government from the governor and members of the General Assembly.

The government counters at Chicago’s Civic Federation issued a report about Illinois’ plethora of units of local government and their impact on ever-increasing property taxes.

How many local government units does Illinois have? Does anyone really know? How many elected officials do these local government units have? Does anyone really know?

How does Illinois compare with Texas, the state following Illinois with the most governments?

Texas has 5,343 units, which is 3,580 fewer than Illinois.

Texas taxpayers are taxed for far fewer governments than Illinois taxpayers, even though it has a much larger population and thousands more square miles. Illinois’ population is 12,830,652, whereas Texas has 29,143,505 residents,16,512,853 more than Illinois. There are 57,915 square miles in Illinois, 210,665 fewer than Texas. Texas does not have township governments or township road districts.

If those who are in Springfield were serious about tax-relief, they would take action that would encourage local officials to eliminate or consolidate the state’s excessive government entities.

With the governor and all of the members of the General Assembly up for election in 2022, this is an awesome opportunity to ask this question: What is your plan to reduce the size and cost of Illinois’ nation-leading 8,918 units of local government?

Bob Anderson

Wonder Lake