Executive Report
Attorney General Opinions

Jurisdiction of community college records

RECORDS of local community college districts are under the jurisdiction of the appropriate local records commission, not the State Records Commission. Atty. Gen. William Scott told Sec. of State Alan Dixon that "the fact that the records of the Illinois Community College Board are held by the State Records Commission is not grounds for concluding that that commission has jurisdiction over the records of a local community college district." According to sections 2-1 through 2-16.1 of the School Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 122, secs. 102-1 through 102.16.1), the Illinois Community College Board does not directly control the districts but is "related to them in a manner which does not differ greatly from the relationship of a local school district to the State Board of Education." (No. S-1261, June 23, 1977)

Circuit court fees, NP-1262: A fee should be assessed for the filing of a written appearance in an action such as divorce even if such appearance is not accompanied by an answer or adverse pleading. If no written appearance is filed, no fee for an appearance should be assessed.

Civil Service Commission, S-1257: An individual who is not an attorney may not be permitted to legally represent state employees at hearings before the Civil Service Commission. Section 11 of the Personnel Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 127, sec. 63b1 1 1), which authorizes a hearing before the commission prior to removal, discharge, demotion or suspension, also authorizes an employee to appear on his own behalf or with the aid of counsel. This section does not include representation by any person who is not an attorney.

County board's authority, S-1258: The county board has ample authority to limit the amount county officials and their employees may be reimbursed for individual meals and lodging while on county business.

Land use control — city or county, S-1259: Neither the municipality nor the county has exclusive jurisdiction to approve a "planned unit development" (PUD) with respect to both zoning and subdivision of the tract. "The legislature has not provided for the unique nature of a planned unit development which is located outside a municipality but within 1 1/2 miles of its limits."

County clerk's office, S-1260: The county board of a non-home rule county does not have the power to contract with a private firm for the data processing of voter registration lists, county payroll checks and distribution reports for the county mobile home privilege or local services tax. This would "violate the county clerk's right to procure the necessary equipment, materials and services to perform the duties of his office." 

30 / September 1977 / Illinois Issues

Chicago Heights schools face state aid cutoff
THE State Board of Education voted July 15 to cut off state and federal funds from the Chicago Heights school district because the district failed to meet pupil desegregation guidelines.

The district then had 30 days to request a hearing on the action or risk the loss of school aid. The 12-0 board vote marked the first time a district had come so close to a loss of funds. In the past the board has placed districts on probation and threatened fund cutoffs for failing to submit adequate integration guidelines.

The district has 10 schools, with an overall racial composition of 56 per cent black or Latino and 44 per cent white. Two of its schools are over 99 per cent black and three are predominantly white, despite the fact that board regulations require all schools to be within 15 percentage points of the overall racial minority makeup in their district.

Chicago Heights had formerly been on probation for a year, and had since received two extensions of recognition status.

Authority of the board to force desegregation is presently being challenged in a Kane County Circuit Court case where busing is the issue. A state law, which some say is unconstitutional, prohibits the state board from ordering busing to achieve racial balance.

Forecasting revenue
More money in fiscal 1978 is the cheerful consensus of the state's financial prophets: the Bureau of the Budget (BOB), the Office of the Comptroller and the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission (IEFC). Both the estimates of the comptroller and the legislative commission indicate the state will rake about $6.28 billion into its general revenue funds in fiscal 1978 compared to $5.79 billion in 1977. (These figures do not include funds transferred from other state accounts.) The BOB came up in January with a slightly more conservative estimate of $6.21 billion but may revise it after appropriations bills are signed to show an increase in state sources and a decrease in federal and transfer funds according to Richard Kolhauser, BOB'S technical coordinator.

Engrossed in the fine points (and the politics) of their trade, the prophets are not in consensus as to who is the most accurate.

An IEFC spokesman says the economic forecast the governor uses is the least optimistic because he must be sure he doesn't

30 / September 1977 / Illinois Issues

Communication between the Republican BOB and the Democratic Comptroller's Office is not good. Bill Toal, senior economist for the comptroller, is working on a general economic model of the state which, he says, will enable forecasters "to get away from relying on national trends alone" and could be used to forecast occupational demand as well as revenues. Kolhauser believes the model is a duplication of one the BOB completed several months ago to determine the economic impact of pollution laws. The BOB estimates revenue directly from national trends, Kolhauser says, because state data is notoriously inconsistent and Illinois closely follows national trends. Toal is working to get a consistent data base for his key indicators model, which should be ready in two or three months. He says that the BOB is using an input-output model. It shows how different state industries react with each other but does not indicate how the national economy affects Illinois. When the national economy dips, Toal says the state's economy "tends to go down a little later but also goes down a little more."

31 / September 1977 / Illinois Issues

Contributing to the enrollment drop, the state's birth rate has declined since 1959 nearly 30 per cent. In the last two years, 1975-76, the rate has gone up very slightly; the figures from the first four months of 1977 show an even sharper increase. Another factor was the out-of-state migration of 2.9 per cent of Illinois' population during the period from 1970 to July in 1976. This rate has slowed in the last two years.

Because of a seesaw pattern in the birth rate there is the same pattern in the enrollments. High schools feel the effects of population changes last because of the time delay. In 1977-78, for the first time, high school enrollments will drop along with elementary enrollments.

Illinois public school enrollments hit their peak year in 1971-72 after 27 years of growth. During the five school years, 1971-72 through 1976-77, there was a decline of 6.3 per cent. Elementary school enrollments had the largest decline, and 85 of 102 Illinois counties showed declines. Fringe counties of Chicago (Will, Kendall, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Lake) showed increases in enrollments. Some counties in west central and southern Illinois also experienced an increase. Urban counties with the steepest declines were: Madison, Rock Island, Champaign, Cook, St. Clair, Sangamon, Winnebago, Macon and Peoria.

What these projected enrollment declines in the next five years mean to schools is unclear, but certainly, the report states, "such a prolonged and pronounced enrollment decline has important implications for public school staffing, finance and facilities." 

September 1977 / Illinois Issues / 31