Jim Dey: Abolishing elected offices: Common sense or a fast one?

Dec. 21—A second Champaign County elected official has voiced his opposition to a proposed county board vote Thursday to place a referendum on the March primary ballot asking voters if they wish to eliminate the elected offices of auditor and coroner.

Calling the proposal "irregular and rushed," Champaign County Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons said it's "unfair to the public and the candidates (for those offices) to push this at the last minute."

Champaign County Auditor George Danos previously expressed similar objections.

But county board member Stephanie Fortado defended the proposal to eliminate the elected offices, calling it "common-sense government" and a money-saving move to take politics out of what should be nonpartisan public offices.

"I've thought that since I've been on the board," she said.

Fortado also defended a proposal to ask voters to approve a quarter-cent sales-tax increase to ease county financial concerns.

Fortado estimated that the new county budget set to take effect Jan. 1 is "in the red by about $500,000." Danos has challenged that claim, arguing the county has reserves that can make up any shortfall.

The 22-member board is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to put the auditor/coroner referendum on the March primary ballot.

Legal questions about the propriety of asking voters to abolish those while at the same time asking voters to nominate candidates for both posts have been addressed.

Ammons called coupling those conflicting measures on the same ballot "unnecessarily confusing to voters." But State's Attorney Julia Rietz said it is legally permissible.

She said one of her assistants found a nearly 50-year-old opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's Office that concluded it is legal.

While the board will vote Thursday on the referendum for the elected offices, Fortado said it will not take up the potential sales-tax increase until summer — probably August. If the board approves that referendum, it would be added to the November general-election ballot.

The controversy over the two questions became public Sunday, when a guest commentary by Danos on the subject was published in The News-Gazette.

Prior to that, only county board members and those who closely follow county government were aware of the measures.

Revenue, of course, is always an issue for government units.

The issue of eliminating county elected offices pops up from time to time, as public officials and government watchers look for better and more efficient ways to conduct public business.

So far, only the recorder's office has been eliminated in Champaign County. Folded into the county clerk's office, it's still overseen by an elected official.

Ammons noted the issue of abolishing the recorder's office was discussed publicly for months. That's largely because the person who was elected to the office in 2020 — Democrat Mike Ingram — ran his campaign with a principal goal of folding it into the clerk's office.

While the question of abolishing the offices is relatively straightforward, the issue of increasing the sales tax is more complicated and controversial. That's largely because government finance is confusing, and opponents and proponents of tax increases can emphasize conflicting numbers.

Danos, for example, said a sales-tax hike is unnecessary because the county has "unrestricted reserves" of "about $10 million" that permit "us to ride out a few mild deficit years without installing a permanent tax increase."

At the same time, Fortado cited a projected 2024 budget deficit and estimated revenue shortfalls that make funding government difficult.

The proposed quarter-cent sales tax would generate an estimated $7 million a year in new revenue.

Dubbed a "public safety sales tax," Fortado said the money could be used to hire additional law officers, while Danos said more money going to law enforcement would "simply liberate an unrestricted dollar for the general fund" and be used on board-favored social-welfare programs.