No Madison County Board members made a motion to adopt a resolution to place an advisory referendum on the April 6 ballot asking voters about reducing the number of Madison County board members following the 2020 U.S. Census.
The resolution was presented by Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler during a special meeting Tuesday. The meeting lasted about six minutes.
The referendum asked, “Shall the number of County Board members be reduced from the current 29 members following the 2020 Decennial Census?”
During the meeting, board member Mick Madison said he believed the question that would have been presented to the voters was asking whether they should reduce the number of county board districts. He suggested tabling the resolution until there is a viable plan for discussion. He also offered to begin the process of restructuring the board. There were no disagreements from fellow board members.
Prenzler said he talked to a consultant for Robert's Rule prior to the meeting and said tabling the discussion was not possible. He explained that Jan. 19 was the last day to put the resolution on the April 6 ballot.
Another board member asked if they could make a motion to discuss. Prenzler said that according to Robert's Rule, they had to first put it in front of the County Board by making a motion in favor of the resolution.
"If there is no motion, then it fails for lack of a motion," he added.
None of the board members made a motion in favor of the resolution.
Board member Bruce Malone moved for adjournment.
Following the meeting, board member Doc Holliday explained that because no motion was made, the meeting was adjourned.
Board member Bill Meyer said the resolution died because "there was no clear plan presented."
Board member Mike Walters said there are still too many unanswered questions, including what are the census results, how will districts be re-drawn, how many board seats would be eliminated and which ones.
Following the board meeting, Madison said he does not oppose reducing the size of the board, but said there are a lot of implications and unanswered questions.
"It would have been nice to start this discussion some time ago," he said.
Madison said board members were given the resolution shortly before the meeting and didn't have enough time to explore the possible impact.
For example, he said each district has roughly 9,000 constituents. Increasing the number of constituents for each board member by reducing the number of board members presents budgeting questions, including whether the positions would become full-time jobs rather than part-time. Given these unanswered questions, Madison asked if the change would actually save taxpayers money.
Madison said he believes voters would be in favor of reducing the size of the county board if it saves money. He suggested the board look at multiple scenarios and engage in discussion on how to move forward and what the best route to take would be. He offered to initiate those discussions and begin the process of coming up with options.
"Since we know that, why go through all this?" he said. "Let's just start doing it."
"We'll figure it out," he added. "We just have to give ourselves time to do that."
He also said that district lines must be re-drawn to reflect the census results by May. The county board does not yet know what the new districts look like.
Prenzler also previously noted that district lines must be re-drawn to ensure equal representation of residents.
With 29 members, the Madison County Board currently has the maximum number of board members allowed by law. Only three other counties in Illinois have 29 county board members - St. Clair County, Sangamon County and LaSalle County.
Prenzler said county boards have an opportunity to adjust their size after each decennial U.S. Census.
“The law also provides for an opportunity for voters to provide input via an advisory referendum,” he stated in a press release.
Prenzler added that McHenry County has a population of 308,000 and put a similar advisory question on the 2016 ballot. Citizens voted 77 to 23 percent to reduce the size of its 24-member county board.
No other board members have responded to a request for comment.