Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
Over the last several years, close to 1,400 parcels that have been annexed into the city of Springfield have been “retained” by their townships. Mayor Jim Langfelder claimed there are annexed property owners paying taxes to townships without receiving services.
A vote Tuesday by the city council will send the matter of dissolution of the township ties to the public in a non-binding referendum on April 4. Win or lose, the city, Langfelder said, will request that the state legislature close a loophole and dissolve the parcels from township jurisdictions so the city can provide property tax relief to affected residents.
Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, Ward 6 Ald. Kristin DiCenso, Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley and Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer voted against the resolution.
Langfelder voted yes with five other alderpersons while Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan, executive director of Township Officials of Illinois Risk Management Association, voted “present.”
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin said the city was trying to eliminate $640,000 in tax dollars that city residents were paying those townships.
“Our citizens are getting double-taxed, and I thought the mayor was trying to do the right thing,” McMenamin said afterward. “The township governments are trying to retain that money for themselves. It’s just a tug of war. I think the city of Springfield has the better argument.”
The property owners are paying taxes to bridge and road township funds even though there are no township bridges or roads within the corporate limits of the city, McMenamin claimed.
About half of those 1,390 parcels are in Woodside Township on the city’s south side.
***
State law allows municipalities to annex unincorporated areas that are 60 acres or less if they are bounded entirely by that municipality, by passing an ordinance.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 