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the role of
SPECIAL DISTRICTS
Your real estate tax bill - Cook County - contains a listing of tax rates and dollar amounts for about fifteen different public purposes. About five of these line items represent the taxes levied by what are known as "special districts," the largest among them, in terms of the area they cover and the size of their annual budgets, being the sanitary and forest preserve districts.
Special districts are generally single-purpose units which cover a certain geographic area. They have all the powers and prerequisites that other governmental units have. They are governed by officials who are elected spearately or appointed by other elected bodies such as county boards. Illinois has over 2,400 special districts with taxing powers, more than any other state.
Why do we have special districts in Illinois; wouldn't it be less complicated and cheaper to have one large metropolitan government that would be responsible for all of the governmental purposes covered by your tax bill?
To answer that common question, your tax bill would then be simpler, but a large multi-purpose government is more complicated and in my opinion, more expensive. As governments grow larger, they add levels of review and supervision, with the attendant higher salary levels. More justifications and approvals are required and to do even minor things takes longer from suggestion to execution.
Small local governments usually are the beneficiaries of many hours of donated services and expertise. In Illinois, park board members are not compensated and park districts frequently receive donations and have volunteer assistance with many of their programs.
Then there is the natural tendency of municipal boards to assign priorities to their budget categories. When competing for funds with the fire, police, and utility departments, libraries, parks and recreation usually lose.
Another reason for special districts is that special interests or needs seldom coincide with the boundaries of an established political subdivision. Special interest in a hospital, library, parks, mosquito abatement or a need for a sewer may cover an area either greater or smaller than established municipalities. In other states those interests are frequently overlooked; in Illinois we draw the boundary lines, hold an election, and start doing the job.
W. O. Degner
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