Local spending drivers need to be reformed to truly relieve taxpayers of Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes.

The village board of Lakewood, Illinois, will decide whether to keep a TIF district approved in 2015 in a vote scheduled for June 13.

While the Better Government Association has claimed Illinois’ budget contains no fat to trim, a deeper analysis reveals the state has many areas of expensive inefficiency to reform in state and local government costs, the Medicaid program and K-12 education.

House Bill 607 would allow for the consolidation of a duplicative layer of government, something Illinois taxpayers desperately need.

In a bipartisan effort to cut McHenry County’s local tax burden, the McHenry County Board voted overwhelmingly in favor of a pledge to cut the county tax levy by 10 percent. The board chairman has intimated he will pursue further local government consolidation efforts.

Illinois has by far the most units of government in the nation, at nearly 7,000.

Instead of giving Illinois residents the power to initiate referendums on local government consolidation, Senate Bill 3 vests this power in government officials, who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.