Taxpayers voted overwhelmingly to dissolve Collinsville Area Recreation District – but the debt the district incurred will burden taxpayers for years.
Godfrey voters decided Nov. 6 to dissolve the village’s duplicative township, a measure that officials had been weighing for nearly 20 years.
Voters across seven Cook County townships strongly oppose a return of the sweetened beverage tax.
Madison County voters decided Nov. 6 that responsibilities such as recording land transfers and maintaining deeds no longer justify a separate office for an elected official.
Voters said they don’t need a township on top of Springfield city government, but unless Sangamon County leaders act there will be no tax savings.
Alton Township was on the chopping block Nov. 6. While neighboring communities consolidated unnecessary layers of government, Alton residents will keep their township.
Voters decided Sangamon County school building improvements were worth boosting Springfield’s sales tax to among the highest in the nation. The 1 percent sales tax hike will take the total to 10.75 percent at some stores.
A proposed 1 percent sales tax would have increased the village of Barrington’s sales tax burden to among the highest in the nation.
State records show AFSCME has funneled at least $1.4 million to Michael Madigan and Madigan-controlled committees in the past five years – including at least $823,200 just this year.
“I’ve seen a mass exodus. I’ve been a realtor for 24 years, on average selling 40 to 50 homes a year. I usually had my sellers call me because they wanted to move to a new house [in Illinois]. Now, instead, they call and say, ‘We’re done, the taxes are too high. Too much corruption.’...
Former lawmakers receive generous benefits from the state’s worst-run retirement fund.
The share of Alton’s annual property tax levy going to pension payments has more than doubled over the past decade.
“My parents saw a future in this town. “For 40 years, we paid our dues in taxes, property taxes. We’ve created value. Everybody’s brother and sister has worked for us locally. For most of them, it’s their first job. “Good times, hard times, we went through it all. We actually helped the village. My parents...