Wheeling Township Supervisor Kathy Penner
Wheeling Township will ask voters in April how they feel about unfunded mandates from the state.
The township board Tuesday authorized the Cook County clerk to place a nonbinding, advisory referendum on the ballot. It will ask: “Should the state of Illinois be allowed to force unfunded mandates on local governments who may raise property taxes to cover the costs of those mandates?”
The resolution to submit the referendum to the voters noted the Illinois Municipal League identified hundreds of unfunded mandates as of Oct. 29, 2021. It also pointed out that residential property taxes in the state have increased 215%, or $15.8 billion since 1996.
Unfunded mandates from the state legislature force local governments to spend additional money that does not reflect the will of constituents, Wheeling Township Supervisor Kathy Penner said.
“Those additional costs are frequently passed on to taxpayers in the form of higher property taxes, sales taxes and fees for services,” she said. “It may also result in spending and service priorities of our locally elected municipal officials taking second place to the desires of legislators who represent communities hundreds of miles away.”
The question would be on the same ballot as the township election, in which most of the Republican incumbents will be running to retain their seats.
Democrat Maria Zeller Brauer, who is challenging Penner in the upcoming election, said she and fellow Democrats running for township offices will focus on other issues. They will include following through on the November 2022 referendum to fund the township’s Community Mental Health Board, she said.
“We’re running on how we can make positive changes to the township,” she said.