Lake County Municipal League’s Current Priority:
To provide for a sustainable financial future.
1. PROTECT, ENHANCE AND MODERNIZE MUNCIPAL REVENUES
- Support returning the fullest amount of Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) dollars and sales tax dollars, including internet sales tax, to local governments
- Eliminate the sales tax administrative fee
- Allow municipalities to fulfill any statutorily-mandated newspaper posting requirement by providing notice on the municipality’s website and on a publicly-available, searchable online database operated independently from the municipality.
- Maintain local control over property taxes.
- Expand eligibility to become a Home Rule unit to communities with a population in excess of 5,000 people.
2. INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE
- The Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) capacity to review and approve projects in a timely manner needs to be increased specifically arising out of the Rebuild Illinois capital program. Continue to identify local and state match programs to support development.
- Exempt MFT revenues from the Government Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) which is causing project delays and diverting resources from product delivery.
3. THE LAKE COUNTY MUNICIPAL LEAGUE WILL:
- Oppose legislation that would reduce or sweep local revenues that are collected by the State and then distributed to municipalities (e.g. sales, income, gaming and MFT taxes).
- Support legislation that restores local government revenues to the fullest amounts.
- Oppose legislation that creates unfunded mandates on the financial health and operations of municipalities.
- Support Federal legislation regarding the Marketplace Fairness Act to collect taxes on remote electronic sales.
- Advocate for opportunities to expand and enhance recycling opportunities in Illinois.
