The League of Women Voters of the LaGrange Area feels that HB 4173, a bill that adds board members to the Lyons Township School Treasurer Office (LTTO), is a failure for Illinois. Democrats and Republicans missed the opportunity to work together to eliminate an outdated government agency and instead just expanded its board.
The Lyons Township School Treasurers Office (LTTO) is an agency that exists only in suburban Cook County. It was instituted early in our state’s history to manage and invest education tax dollars for the member school districts, but in 1962, the agency was deemed unnecessary in the rest of Illinois and eliminated.
The LTTO is an unnecessary layer of government that adds administrative expense and is redundant considering the qualified business management professionals in our school districts.
The history of financial malfeasance associated with the office in multiple townships bears out this finding. Member school districts of the LTTO have lost millions of dollars in fraud by a previous treasurer and in lawsuits pursued by the LTTO trustees against a member district.
Legislation allowing school districts to withdraw from the LTTO was sponsored by Rep. Durkin and blocked by state Sen. Landek. Only Lyons Township High School District 204 has been allowed to withdraw. One must ask, if the LTTO is so valuable, why do member districts want to leave it?
Going forward we urge Gov. Pritzker to veto HB4173 and to encourage the Illinois legislature to seek opportunities to streamline Illinois government in other ways.
Janice Miller, co-president
Lara Taylor, co-president
League of Women Voters of the LaGrange Area
