McHenry Times

Now that McHenry Township trustees have narrowly approved a ballot measure allowing voters to determine the fate of its road district, a seven-member group is organizing an effort to get voters to approve abolishing the road district.

Voters will decide whether to continue with the road district or allow the township trustees to levy taxes used for road maintenance, trash collection and other projects, according to a March 27 report from the Northwest Herald.

Trustee Bob Anderson backs the proposal to abolish the road district. His involvement stretches back nearly 25 years, according to the Herald, when he championed an unsuccessful move to replace the county’s 25-member board with as few as three county commissioners.

McHenry Township Trustee Bob Anderson

This time, he’s hoping the push for change will be more successful. As chairman of the seven-member group that aims to get the resolution passed, he isn’t letting the past defeat deter him.

“To win, we knew that our grass-roots campaign must start early, since not only will we be facing McHenry County’s 16 other road districts, statewide road districts are expected to be on the front lines as well,” Anderson said during an interview with the McHenry Times.

Anderson supports consolidation – a cause he has advanced for three decades – for many of the same reasons other politicians are seeking tax reform.

“Illinois has lost residents for four years in a row,” he said. “Why? Because of the tax burden of supporting 7,000 governments. It’s not the weather. Many people pay more on their tax bills than they do for their mortgages. ... Even if a mortgage is paid off, you never own your home when Illinois has some of the highest property tax bills in the country.”

Anderson said whether his committee’s work is successful will depend on educating voters about how government works in McHenry County.

“Very few people realize that each township has two governments: the township (corporate) and the township road district, (and) each has its own tax authority,” he explained.

That’s why the group is stressing that the Nov. 6 referendum on consolidation concerns how public money is being spent, he emphasized.

“The question before the voters is a simple and common sense question: ‘Do you want the committee of one, the township road commissioner, or the committee of five, the township board, to have oversight of the spending of $3 million’?” he said. “In a nutshell, it’s about reducing the size and cost of Illinois’ governments to ‘Save Illinois’.”