McHenry County Clerk Mary McClellan has expressed support for the merging of the county recorder’s office with the county clerk’s office.

A referendum question that would eliminate the McHenry County Recorder’s Office by consolidating it with the clerk’s office was approved unanimously by the county board’s ad hoc Committee on Government Consolidation, during its June 8 meeting.

The proposal is the second tangible effort at reducing government agencies to be entertained by the full board, and will likely be placed on an agenda for a July session.

Should the referendum question to consolidate the two county offices be approved, at that meeting, it will appear on the March 20, 2018 primary election ballot. Current recorder Joe Tirio was voted into the position in November, largely on an initiative to terminate the office as a stand-alone entity. County Clerk Mary McClellan is in favor of the move, although any consolidation efforts would not take place until Dec. 1, 2020.

“The date would coincide with the end of the recorder’s four-year term, and it is a more efficient way of conducting business,” said McClellan. “The ad hoc committee’s vote is a positive step in the direction of allowing taxpayers to their property taxes and reduce government. It goes to the county board now for approval and look forward to the outcome.”

McClellan also said the merging of work areas into a single plan section would benefit other agencies in need of space, and save on the cost of constructing a new building at the Woodstock campus on Seminary Avenue. The present recorder’s office only utilizes one-third of the space in its quarters, and would have the necessary floor-footage to comfortably perform the duties of the department.

“This goes way beyond saving the county the salary of one elected official, as the county is in need of the annex building,” she said. “In my plan, the election division would be moved to a better, more centralized area. The consolidation question coming on the March primary ballot also allows more time to lay the groundwork for the assimilation, and it enable a better outline in advance of the 2019 fiscal year budget.”

On Oct. 6, 2015, the county board had previously considered a proposal to consolidate and reduce the number of township governments through a ballot referendum, ultimately rejecting

the proposal by a 13-9 vote, due to the inequity of tax burdens shifting between townships. The movement was derived from a campaign by the McHenry County Citizens For Township Consolidation, a volunteer group which collected more than 8,000 signatures on petitions seeking the board’s intervention.

The tipping point was the raft of raw data displaying economic discrepancies between townships, pay scales and pension packages for township officials, physical workloads to maintain rural infrastructures, and geographic concerns of an improbable nature, as discussed by a task force convened to research the matter.

County board chairman Jack Franks also concurred with the plan, and has been involved with government reduction policies and sharing essential services, throughout his tenure in the state legislature. Last April, he presented a plan to lower the county’s tax levy by 10 percent, an approximate total of $7.9 million, tied to this year’s levy amount. The board approved the plan on a 23-1 vote, and authorized an ad hoc committee on tax reduction to be created, during its Apr. 18 meeting. The committee is tasked with finding ways to implement the levy cessation by June 30.

“That’s one reason, we don’t believe the consolidation referendum question will be on the agenda this month,” said McClellan. “However, things are moving in a positive direction for taxpayers realize an efficient form of government.”

–County board to hear recorder-clerk consolidation question–