For those of you who don’t know, there’s another local government entity besides the City and the County. It’s called the Township. Peoria County is divided into twenty townships (see map here), and these townships collect property taxes and provide a few services. You can read an excellent history about them in a report titled, “Township Government: Essential or Expendable? The Case of Illinois and Cook County,” by David K. Hamilton.

One of the services provided is something called “General Assistance.” According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, “The General Assistance (GA) program provides people with money and limited medical care to help take care of themselves when they do not qualify for other cash programs administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).” Recipients of this aid can receive bus tickets; vouchers to help pay for utilities, prescriptions, dental and eye exams; and money for other medical needs. The General Assistance Fund also grants $50,000 per year to the Heartland Clinic and $10,000 per year to the Center for Abuse. All told, the General Assistance budget is $1.525 million.

Of that budget, $242,600 goes to administration. The head of the operation is the Town General Assistance Supervisor, an elected position carrying a salary of $80,796.71 per year. A salary schedule approved in 2008 shows that next year it goes up to $84,836.55. And starting in May 2012, it goes up to $89,078.38. In other words, it goes up 5% every year. At that rate, the position will rake in over $100,000 a year in taxpayer money by 2015.

And what does the Town General Assistance Supervisor do? Distribute taxpayer money. Hand out vouchers and other assistance to people who line up at the door.

So, what’s my beef here? First of all, the salary for this position — which is essentially a clerical position — is outrageous. There is no justification for it as it stands. Secondly, there’s no justification for annual 5% increases on top of it. Thirdly, why do we have this position at all? In southern Illinois they don’t even have a township government system and this function is fulfilled by the County. From an administrative standpoint, without passing judgment on the services provided, this is serious government waste.

There is a provision in state law for abolishing township government. However, it’s practically impossible to achieve. To force the question to a referendum, you have to gather signatures of 10% of the voters in each of the 20 townships. That would be a mammoth effort. And you can’t just get rid of one township — it’s all or nothing in the County. The only practical way to abolish townships is for State legislation to be passed that would do away with the antiquated and duplicatory system.