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Health & Fitness

Which Local Government Spends 35 Percent More on the Same Service?

Not every unit of local government is equally efficient at providing similar services. Who's more cost effective? The answer may surprise you.

According to the Illinois Secretary of State, Illinois has more units of local government than any other state.  Consolidating units of local government is frequently touted as .  Given the high property tax burden facing Wheaton residents, the time to eliminate inefficient units of local government is now.  So, in the spirit of fiscal conservatism, I propose the immediate dissolution of the City of Wheaton (or at least its street maintenance function), and its consolidation into Milton Township.

This is not an April fool. The question is usually posed the opposite way, with the aim to eliminate township government.  But if we are going to be honest, local governments do provide services.  If we eliminate one government body, another will have to do the job, so the question should be, which one does the job most efficiently?  Because the range of services differs significantly, it’s often hard to draw a direct "apples to apples" comparison overall.  However, one primary service provided by both townships and municipalities, where a fairly straightforward comparison can be made, is roads.  A comparison between Milton Township and the City of Wheaton shows that, between the two, Milton Township is far more cost effective in providing those roads.

Milton Township maintains about 85 miles of road for $22,558 per mile.  The City of Wheaton maintains about 165 lane miles of road for $30,409 per mile.  So, despite the fact that the City has about twice the road mileage – which, you would think, would lead to greater efficiencies of scale – the City spends 35% more tax dollars per mile of roadway.  Thus, the smaller unit of government, Milton Township, is the efficiency winner – by a mile.  At the end of this column, I’ve listed how these numbers were calculated.

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Another common misconception is that residents of incorporated areas, like the City of Wheaton, “double pay” for township roads.  That’s not true.  By state law, Milton Township actually rebates over $1.2 million of its road tax collections to the municipalities that maintain their own streets.  For the 2010 tax year, the City of Wheaton received almost $650,000.  Thus, eliminating the Township would blow a $650,000 hole in the City’s budget – unless the City increased taxes elsewhere.

There are other examples as well; on August 10, 2011 School District 200 voted for a contract with the City of Wheaton for "police liaison" officers at the high schools, at a total cost of $191,465, to provide police officers at fixed locations - the two high schools - for 176 days a year during the school year.  Milton Township contracts with DuPage County to provide police protection for residents of unincorporated areas for $225,800 a year (see Special Police District Fund, a tax paid only by residents of unincorporated areas), and that price includes patrolling within a 36 square mile area, 365 days a year.  On a per diem basis, District 200 is spending 75% more than the Township does for police protection, leaving aside the fact that District 200 has two fixed base operations, as opposed to having to patrol and respond to calls throughout the Township.

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More information about township government can be found in a January 2012 report, “Local Democracy and Townships in the Chicagoland Area”, available here (click on “Cox Report 2011”).  This report (which, in the interest of disclosure, was funded by the Township Officials of Illinois organization) provides detailed statistics on spending, debt, and other details among different forms of local government.

Statistical Information:  According to the Milton Township web site, there are approximately 85 miles of township roads and road right of ways.  Total expenditures in the 2012-2013 budget are $1,917,484, or roughly $22,558.63 per mile.  This includes the entire budget for the Road District and Highway Commissioner.  In addition to road services, the Highway Commissioner also serves as emergency management coordinator for the Township and has other duties.

According to the City of Wheaton web site, there are 165 miles of city streets.  Total expenditures in the 2012-2013 budget are $5,017,522, or roughly $30,409.22 per mile.  This includes Traffic Signs and Lines (Budget line item 1721, $541,850, pages 195-196), Street Lights and Traffic Signals (1722, $540,686, pages 197-198), Snow and Ice Control (1723, $1,224,066, pages 199-200), General Street Repair (1724, $1,197,888, pages 201-202), Street and Sidewalk Repairs (1727, $287,482, pages 203-204), Street Cleaning (1728, $349,877, pages 205-206), and Forestry Operations (1732, $875,673, pages 207-208).  This does NOT include, however, any amount for Administration (1711, $469,313, pages 187-188), or Building Maintenance (1712, $143,754, pages 189-190), or emergency management, even though a portion of these items would have to be included to match the services being provided and costs being incurred by the Township (its numbers include administration and maintenance of the Highway building).  Thus, I believe this is a conservative estimate of the City's costs; actual costs may be higher.

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