Proposed referendum would ask voters to approve shrinking Madison County Board
The Madison County Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday to decide whether to ask voters whether they want to shrink the size of the board, based on U.S. Census data expected to be released in the spring.
County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler called for the meeting to discuss the proposed referendum, which if approved by the board, would be placed on the April 6 ballot. The referendum asks voters “Shall the number of county board members be reduced from the current 29 members following the 2020 Decennial Census?”
“The taxpayers have told us, again and again, to do more with less,” Prenzler said. “This is something the voters should be asked.”
The Madison County Board has the maximum number of board members allowed by law, a total of 29, representing the roughly 263,000 people who live in the county.
If voters approve the referendum, Prenzler said district lines would be re-drawn to reflect population changes reported by the census to ensure “equal representation” of the county’s residents.
County boards have an opportunity after each decennial U.S. Census to adjust their size based on new population data, according to state law.
Results of the 2020 Census are expected to be released “as close to April 1, 2021, as possible,” according to the Census Bureau’s website. That means the results of the census may only be available to voters for a short period before the vote.
Prenzler said he doesn’t think that should change things for voters too much, due to the Census Bureau’s estimation that the county has lost roughly 2.4% of its population since 2010. He said with the chances of the 2020 Census showing that the population has continued to shrink, county officials should slim down the board to align with the number of residents.
He said having fewer board members would shrink the county’s budget as well. Board members in Madison County are each paid $14,500, a figure that has been flat for nearly a decade, Prenzler noted.
See how much county employees made at https://www.bnd.com/publicpay
There are 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats sitting on the county board. Prenzler is set to name two board members in the near future, after two Republican members of the board resigned in December.
“Twenty-nine is quite a large number,” Prenzler said. “This is the appropriate time to look at it. We only get a chance every 10 years.”
Prenzler said other counties have reduced their board sizes throughout Illinois, where the minimum number of members is five and the maximum is 29. He said, if the advisory referendum were to pass, he’d need input on which board seats would be eliminated.
Three other counties in Illinois also have the maximum number of board members allowed: nearby St. Clair County, Sangamon County and LaSalle County.
Madison County Democratic Party Chairman Randy Harris said the resolution is another move by Prenzler to reduce services. He said if the board were to shrink, county residents would have less representation.
“This isn’t about good government. This is about reducing services,” Harris said, calling the advisory referendum a bad idea for both Democrats and Republicans.
He said that after speaking with several Democrat county board members, it seems there had been no prior discussion or notice of the special meeting on the advisory referendum.
“I find it very difficult to believe that this is being done in an attempt to make things better for taxpayers,” Harris said. “This is not for taxpayers. This is to strangle government services for the taxpayers.”
“I can’t imagine people would be fine with less representation,” he said.
In response to the criticism, Prenzler said there are a “number of factors to consider,” and added that if the advisory referendum passed, he would seek input on any possible changes to the board’s size.
The county board will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the advisory referendum. The meetings are live-streamed at at www.twitch.tv/madisoncountyiL.