Election 2018: Julie Campbell talks dangers of abolishing township

ALTON – If the City of Alton voters chooses to abolish the Alton Township, the assessor's office is also part of the dissolution deal.

But what does the assessor's office actually do?

Alton Tax Assessor Julie Campbell said her office does several services for the community, which ultimately assist Altonians in several aspects of life, especially in taxes. Her office oversees as many as 15,000 parcels, or taxable properties, across the city, which is more than some entire counties have. It also values these properties as well as any construction on them and ensures that appeals made regarding taxation from large taxing bodies such as Lowes, Home Depot and Kohl's, are fought. Outside of its normal taxing duties, which Campbell said save Altonians in their taxes, the assessor's office provides several services for senior citizens.

“The senior citizens may have to go to Edwardsville to get their papers,” she said. “Disabled people may have to do the same. We send 3,000 people forms via mail. They can send them back through the mail or come in and fill them out. We even call and remind those who forget. It's unfortunate because these people are getting older and don't like making long trips or driving much. We even do curbside services, which I don't think the county is even set up to do. We are, because of our location on Broadway.”

If the township and assessor's office are dissolved following this November's vote, Campbell said the duties of her office of six employees will be absorbed by the city, a private contractor or Madison County itself. If it is the last of those three options, she worries resources will not be available to help seniors in Alton as they are now.

Ultimately, she said the dissolution of her office would not save taxpayers money, despite the fact they would no longer have to pay for its operations nor would they foot the bill for the operations of the township offices. However, those appeals her office fights may not have such vigorous defense, meaning the Alton School District may lose money from those appeals going through. Once the school district and city are not getting enough funding to feed their obligations due to a lack of opposing appeals from big box stores, those obligations will have to increase revenue in other places – including local taxes.

Campbell also worries a vote to destroy the Alton Township may lead to the abolition of all townships across the state. Current Illinois State Law dictates a co-terminus township may be dissolved by the will of the people in it. Of the 1,432 townships in Illinois, only 22 are eligible for abolition, including Alton and Godfrey, which both have the measure to dissolve their townships on the ballot, and Belleville, which already dissolved its township four years ago, shortly after that legislation was passed through the Illinois General Assembly.

While many people for abolishing the townships believe it will remove another layer of what they deem to be expensive government, the responsibilities of the township and assessor will continue and will need to be absorbed somehow by some governing body or agency. There is also not a lot of precedent in this issue, and many people involved still have questions.

For example, Campbell said the measure states she would have her office dissolved in 2019 if it passes, but the Illinois legislation states that the measure will be complete during the next election, and her term is not finished until 2021.

More like this: