Unfunded Mandates Survey Documents High Costs
To Municipalities

Unfunded state mandates impose staggering costs for Illinois municipalities, according to a new survey conducted by Governors State University, the Illinois Municipal League and the City of Chicago.

The Burden of Unfunded State Mandates: A Survey of Illinois Municipal Costs documents regional spending by Illinois municipalities imposed by unfunded state mandates. Sixty-seven Illinois communities responded to the survey, including the state's five largest municipalities.

"For too long municipalities have been living an inter-governmental nightmare, of being forced to take political and financial heat for programs and laws passed by higher level governments," said Paul Green, director of Public Policy and Administration for Governors State University.

"The numbers in this survey reveal a simple fact: mandates cost," he said.

Among the findings of the survey are:
• Both large and small cities are affected by the unfunded mandate problem.
• Responding cities documented over $146 million in costs related to state mandates.
• As a percent of their budget, small municipalities may be spending more on unfunded mandates
   than larger communities.
• Although Chicago's top unfunded mandates differ from other cities in the survey, the unfunded
   mandates problem is a statewide dilemma.

"In every community in Illinois, people expect government to provide basic services — to provide adequate police protection, to keep the roads paved and the parks in good repair, and to provide quality education," said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

"Every dollar a city spends on an unfunded mandate is another dollar that cannot be spent on these services," he added.

"This mandates survey exemplifies the financial burden local governments carry," said DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow, President of the Illinois Municipal League and chairman of the League's Unfunded Mandates Task Force.

"The time has come to address this drain on local resources. To that end, the passage of a Constitutional Amendment on unfunded mandates is the top priority of the Illinois Municipal League for 1996," he said.

In 1992, over 80% of Illinois Voters answered yes to an advisory ballot question concerning the opportunity to vote on a Constitutional Amendment limiting unfunded mandates.

"The findings of this report are not news to local officials," according to Ken Alderson, Executive Director of the Illinois Municipal League. "Local officials deal with the costs of mandates every day. They know firsthand the difficulty of diverting local taxes to state priorities rather than local priorities."

"Our citizens will be better served with a constitutional provision ensuring a strong working relationship between state and local government," Alderson said.

The Burden of Unfunded State Mandates is available at no charge by writing or calling the League office. •

October 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 7