‘Broke County’ badly in need of state bailout
Poor Alexander County – literally. The state’s southernmost county is in huge financial trouble.
The county government is down to $30,000 in the bank.
The sheriff laid off three-fourths of his staff.
A bank repossessed five patrol cars, leaving only two.
The regional jail might refuse to take new prisoners because of nonpayment of bills.
All this in a county whose poverty rate is 27 percent, and whose population is dwindling. In 1940, Alexander County had 25,496 residents. By 2000, the population had fallen to 9,590. A 2008 estimate pegs the population at 8,200.
If any entity in Illinois needs a government bailout, it is this struggling county and its decaying county seat. Cairo was once a busy port city on the Ohio River, just above the confluence with the Mississippi. Now, portions of it are in ruins after a 1967 race riot scared away residents and business investment.
It is in the best interest of all Illinoisans that county government remain strong and viable everywhere in our state.
That goes for struggling Alexander County.
What can be done?
State leaders should adopt a multifaceted approach.
First, provide emergency short-term funds to ensure that public safety and health in Alexander County are protected. In other words, get those 10 sheriff’s deputies back on the job so that criminals are kept in check.
Second, consider legislative changes to permit a struggling county to consolidate with a stronger neighboring county, similar to how a troubled school district can consolidate with a stronger neighbor.
Alexander County split away from Union County in 1819. Perhaps it would be in Alexander’s best interest to make amends with its neighbor to the north and rejoin it. The only other option would be to link up with its neighbor to the east, Pulaski County.
Third, and most interesting from our perspective, would be to use Alexander County as a laboratory for exploring how to improve government efficiency.
Illinois is notorious for its many layers of local government, such as counties, townships, cities, villages, grade school districts, high school districts, unit school districts, library districts, park districts, drainage districts, even mosquito abatement districts.
Critics say this is ridiculously inefficient. Why not scour other states for better, more efficient ways to provide needed governmental services? These then could be tried in Alexander County, which could lead to better ways to organize local governments throughout the state.
Illinois should take this opportunity to figure out what went wrong, and in the process fix how the state organizes and funds local governments. Alexander County has little to lose by agreeing to such an experiment.
Otherwise, Illinois, which has had 102 counties for a long time, might be better off with 101.
