Kamaria Harmon, The Southern
Propositions on election ballots are not easily explained, and voters in Jackson County should know exactly what to expect during the upcoming midterm election.
Home Rule
The question on home rule is specific to Carbondale residents, as they are voting on whether or not they want to get rid of home rule in 2023. Carbondale has been a home rule city for 50 years, allowing local government to address local problems without consulting state government laws.
Home rule provides cities and their local governments with the power to “regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare; to license; to tax; and to incur debt.”
Given how the question on the Jackson County ballot is presented, those wishing to retain home rule status for Carbondale must cast a “no” vote.
“If you’re not home rule you only have the power that has been granted to you by the state government,” Carbondale City Manager Gary Williams said. “If you do have a home rule you can create laws that fit your needs locally. It gives local governments more flexibility in creating legislation and policy that might be based on unique circumstances or conditions that are best for that specific community.”
Home rule is automatically granted to cities with a population of 25,000 and above. Since the 2020 census, Carbondale's population has dropped by 4,000 below the cut-off. A public vote must be placed on the next election ballot to allow residents to decide if they want to keep home rule because of the population drop.
“In Illinois, you can get home rule in your municipality in two ways. One is via referendum, you put it on the ballot and voters vote it in and you typically have it forever unless voters choose to rescind it. Two, once you achieve a population of 25,000 you will get home rule automatically,” Williams said.
Since the home rule amendment in Carbondale, over half of the sales tax comes from non-residents through sales and gasoline. The city established a “flat real estate tax levy for over 20 years by using sales taxes to fund city services,” according to the city of Carbondale. Home rule also allows the local government to increase sales tax options in the community without voter approval.
“For Carbondale, probably the most important power it gives us is in terms of rental housing. Over 70% of our housing is rental. Because we're home rule, we have a registration program that requires landlords to register,” Williams said. “We have a safe housing addendum, it's a requirement that they register their units with us. It's a requirement that they pay us $35 annually per unit. It's a requirement that they let us inspect it initially when they become licensed at least once every three years.”
Home rule gives cities the ability to raise sales taxes and create other local taxes. Carbondale created a couple of local taxes a few years ago to help fund two things, help with capital improvement projects and sub-supplement of our public safety pension requirements. Without home rule, the city wouldn't have the ability to levy those taxes.
“Carbondale City Council has maintained a really low real estate tax levy for the city for city services. Our annual tax levy, like this year, our levy was 2.67%, lower than it was in 1999, which is pretty unheard of, for municipalities. The reason that the council is able to do that is that we have sales taxes that are generated mostly by non-residents. When people are coming to town every day to work, shop and all those types of things. They're spending money and generating revenue that we use to pay for services,” said Williams.
If Carbondale were to lose the ability to raise sales taxes or if they lost whole gross sales taxes in place, home real estate would be the only source of revenue to replace that.
A “no” vote is one to continue home rule. A “yes” vote is one to remove the home rule status from Carbondale.
More information on home rule is available on the city of Carbondale website.
Elverado School Board
There are a total of seven seats on the school board for Elverado School District #196. Every two years, there are either four or three spots open at a time. Because there is a seat vacant during this year's upcoming election, the board has to propose a referendum on the ballot for a public vote to have board members elected at large.
“Right now they are [board members] elected based on what area in the district they live in. There is a limit to only three members on the board that can reside in the same area in the district,” Elverado School District Superintendent Kevin Spain said. “However, because the population decreased, we have two areas in the district that never had anyone run for the board. As a result, at least one seat goes unfilled in almost every election.”
The proposition on the Jackson County ballot for Elverado School District residents asks voters to vote "yes" to allow the Elverado school district to elect board members regardless of residency, so they can maintain representation for the school district. Voters who disagree can vote "no" to enforce the residency restriction on board members.
“According to the law, we put out a notice, people can apply, we interview them, and then we fill that seat. Typically, that usually doesn't happen either. If we can't find somebody, then we have to let the regional superintendent know that we have a vacant seat. And then they have a certain number of days in which they're allowed to try and fill that seat themselves, which also does not happen,” Spain said.
Community members interested in running for the Elverado School Board have to go to the county clerk's office and get the appropriate paperwork, complete a petition and get a list of signatures. Once approved, their name would be placed on the April ballot in the following election.
Workers Rights
A state-wide proposed amendment will be on the Nov. 8 ballot, asking Illinois residents to add a new section to article one, the Bill of Rights, to the Constitution of the State of Illinois. This proposed addition to the Illinois Bill of Rights would be labeled as Section 25, "Workers Rights."
Along with Section 25, a second clause explains that minor changes would be added to Section 6 and Article 7 of the Illinois State Constitution, which states regulations for local governments' “Home Rule” act.
The Workers Rights’ amendment will grant employees complete control to organize collectively and negotiate things like wages, safety issues, scheduling, and working conditions. In order to make this possible, over 60% of voters have to vote "yes" for the amendment to be added to the Illinois State Constitution.
The proposition says after it is passed, another law cannot be passed that overrides workers' rights and the ability to protect employees. An excerpt from the secretary of state's proposed amendment reads:
“No law shall be passed that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety, including any law or ordinance that prohibits the execution or application of agreements between employers and labor organizations that represent employees requiring membership in an organization as a condition of employment.”