Illinois Townships and the Elector Audit Checklist

Township government is an established form of governance in North America. It performs three essential duties, such as general assistance, property appraisal for taxation purposes and maintenance of township road districts outside federal, state and county roads.

When township electors vote at an annual or special township meeting to transfer money between funds, a supervisor must implement this transfer.

1. Review Budget and Appropriation Ordinance
Each year, the township board adopts an annual combined budget and appropriation ordinance. This budget details estimated revenues and expenditures of the municipality for its fiscal year; inspection for this ordinance must take place no less than 10 days before it can be adopted by council.

The governing body cannot spend funds during the first quarter of each fiscal year until its budget and appropriation ordinance has been adopted.

The township board selects trustees to act as depositories for all township and road district funds. It also assigns locations for annual and special township meetings. Finally, any vacant township offices such as multi-township assessor are filled by appointment by the board. Whoever wishes to apply for multi-township assessor positions must meet pre-election qualifications outlined in the Township or Multi-Township Assessor Qualifications Chart for more details. A procedural audit is conducted after every general election consisting of an automated software audit followed by manual hand counting of voter-verifiable paper records in at least one randomly selected county, polling site or early voting location; this does not have any bearing on certified election results.

2. Review Road District Budget and Appropriation Ordinance
The Township Board prepares its budget and appropriation ordinance prior to or in the first quarter of each fiscal year, making the budget readily available for inspection and holding at least one public hearing. Once adopted by trustees, copies are then filed with both township clerk and county clerk offices.

Road districts may collect funds in a separate fund to pay for specific capital projects or major equipment purchases without submitting a proposition to electors, provided their annual budget and appropriation ordinance outlines this specific accumulation in terms of amount, purpose and duration. No accumulation may be used for other purposes unless provided for in prior year’s levy.

Supervisor and Highway Commissioner should verify that orders are being placed with the appropriate fund and in accordance with budget/appropriation ordinance, while also making sure prevailing wage is being paid to all labor.

3. Review General Fund Budget and Appropriation Ordinance
As part of its budget process, it is critical that boards carefully scrutinize expenditures against anticipated revenues. To do this effectively, boards must assess existing services and programs, determine their degree of commitment, establish specific attainable goals that fit within available resources and prioritize these objectives accordingly.

Non-home rule municipalities must pass an Appropriation Ordinance annually during the first quarter. This ordinance sets forth the maximum expenditure limit that may be spent within each fiscal year.

At least 10 days prior to adopting an appropriation ordinance or budget proposal, it must be conveniently available for public inspection. Furthermore, the municipal clerk, secretary or similar officer must arrange to hold a public hearing regarding it – advertising the hearing at least once within the municipality.

4. Review Highway Commission Budget and Appropriation Ordinance
Townships are corporate bodies granted powers by state legislatures to tax and fulfill other municipal duties, usually handled by elected supervisors.

Before the beginning of every fiscal year, electors must approve a township budget and appropriation ordinance and adopt it through a public hearing process.

Highway Commissioners may hire part-time extra help, with any extra costs being included in their budget. Many districts rely on extra labor for plowing snow or bituminous resurfacing work.

Your Board may choose to participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). In that instance, your contribution would be 7 3/4% (2.45% Medicare and 6.20 Social Security). Furthermore, they can levy a social security tax within township and/or road district funds that is limited by truth-in-taxation laws and tax caps.