East Central Reporter

Two Republican state senators differ on whether dissolving townships will increase savings or costs for taxpayers. Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Vandalia) and Dale Righter (R-Matatoon) offered different perspectives during a debate about House Bill 4637, which amends the Local Land Resource Management Planning Act and the Township Code by allowing McHenry County and Lake County dissolve townships in order to consolidate governing bodies.

The bill passed Nov. 27  with 33 yes votes and 16 no votes.

"To me it’s simple, you want to go down the road to smaller government, here’s your start," McCarter said. "Vote yes.

"Everybody says, 'well you've got to start somewhere' and this is somewhere."

Righter, however, worried that county property taxes would increase to cover the debts of the dissolved townships. He called the bill "poorly drafted."

"I tingle with excitement when a long-time Democrat like you trumps the conservative, Republican ideas like consolidation and 'let's get rid of all these,' but you’ve just missed a little piece though," Righter said to Sen. Terry Link (D-Gurnee), who sponsored the bill.. "We want to do it to save money and that’s where this bill misses the boat."

"We’re trying to save the taxpayers money," Link countered."I will say it for the 100th time, I will do a trailer bill. I think my word is gold in this chamber."

"I’m not the problem," Link said. "You bring the answers to me and I’ll work on it. That’s how we work on it. I’m the sponsor."

"At some point, don’t you have to ask yourself the question, 'What’s the hurry?' and step back," Righter said. "We need to deal with the provision regarding county debt. You can talk about consolidation all you want but the point is saving money. Let’s wait to get it right."

Illinois has the most governing bodies in the nation, with nearly 7,000, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.