McLean County officials say new election mandates have cost the county $300,000 per year and haven’t increased voter turnout. (WJBC file photo)
By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – McLean County officials have lent a hand to the governor’s office as it looks for state mandates that could be eliminated.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has suggested local governments don’t need all the money he wants to cut, saying state mandates could be eliminated. The lieutenant governor’s office has asked local governments for their ideas to save money.
The county has submitted recommendations, such as tightening eligibility requirements for the state municipal retirement fund , reducing the number of property tax exemptions, eliminating juror pay, no longer publishing legal notices and pulling back on expanded voter access.
County Board chairman Matt Sorensen said, if nothing else, the county should at least be given more control.
“One of the interesting aspects of the governor’s proposal is not necessarily making these mandates go away as much as just giving the authority to local voters to decide what they will or will not enforce,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen said without at least some of these offsets, the county budget could be looking at cuts of up to one million dollars or more.
“In 2015, we will muscle through the budget cuts,” Sorensen said. “I think the 2016 budget is a little scarier story for us.”
County officials say new election mandates, such as voter registration at every polling place and grace period and early voting cost the county $300,000 per year and haven’t increased voter turnout.
Eric Stock can be reached at eric.stock@cumulus.com.
