report to the People by Philip W. Chapman, County Board District Three

The purpose of this report is to provide information to Madison County citizens and to assist with government transparency.

Billing Costs for Township Assessor Services

I serve as Chairman for the Madison County Board Tax Cycle Committee. Currently some townships pay for the full cost of their assessor services and some don’t. This is because in July 2009 the Tax Cycle Committee and County Board passed a resolution that read in part; “Now therefore let it be resolved by the County Board of the County of the County of Madison that it hearby adopts, by reference, the Maximus Cost of Service/User Fee Study of April 2007, and authorizes the billing of township assessor services at 50% of the rates for Quadrennial Reassessment services and at 75% of the rates for non-Quadrennial year service.”

What does this mean? Answer: Some townships seemingly pay for other townships’ assessment costs. For example; according to the Madison County Assessor’ Office in 2013 Madison County picked up the tab of $84,735, in 2014 a tab of $125,623, in 2015 $47,702, and in 2016 $23,240 for township assessment services. More specifically, in 2013 Jarvis benefited by $26,605 and Pin Oak by $22,880. In 2014 Moro benefited by $21,609 and Godfrey $75,654. Other townships benefited by lesser amounts and some not at all. The Tax Cycle Committee will consider if in the future all townships or government entities will be required to cover 100% of their costs for using county assessment services.

Possible Madison County Opioid Law Suit:

I serve on the Madison County Board Judiciary Committee. The county now considers possible litigation against the pharmaceutical industry. The Manhattan Institute Center for Legal Policy recommends we avoid conflicts of interest by using disclosure and oversight principles. (1) Competitive Bidding with the inclusion of prohibitions on political contributions between county officials and the chosen firms and their attorneys. (2) Legislative oversight by the Judiciary Committee and County Board through continued discussion with the State’s Attorney. (3) Fee standards limiting the overall hourly rate charged to tax payers for representation. Should law firms be paid $10,000 an hour? As John Pastuovic, President of the Illinois Justice League states; ‘tax payers deserve to know who is representing them at what cost.’

Respectfully submitted,

Philip W. Chapman

County Board District Three

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