Homer Township Road District Referendum Projected To Fail

Last updated at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

HOMER GLEN, IL — A referendum question asking if the Homer Township Road District should be abolished is projected to fail.

Patch previously reported that if voters voted "no," the Village would move forward with its plans to secure the stewardship of the roads.

According to the Township website, a "no" vote could have the potential for "unnecessary litigation" because the commissioner's "unlawful transfer of assets to one stakeholder will need to be challenged by court action."

Voters said "yes" or "no" to the following question:

Shall the Road District of the Township of Homer be abolished with all the rights, powers, duties, assets, property, liabilities, obligations, and responsibilities being
assumed by the Township of Homer?

A deluge of mail-in votes cast this election amid the coronavirus pandemic — many of which will not be counted tonight — makes this election unlike any in the past. Officials have two weeks post-election to count all provisional votes.

Road district results

100 percent of precincts reporting

• Yes - 8,668 votes
• No - 11,189 votes

Return to Patch for results as they come in. Subscribe to free News Alerts for election results.

Road District

Homer Township and the Village of Homer Glen are currently at odds over the stewardship of the road district. In July, the Village announced a plan to transfer stewardship of the road district over to the village.

According to the village website, the village contracts with the road district for road maintenance and snow plowing. The village of Homer Glen first entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the Homer Township Road District in 2002.

"This relationship was mutually beneficial, as the [road district] was in existence at the time of incorporation and stood ready to assist the young village," a release from both the village and the road district stated in July.

Now, as the village has grown, it is looking to "control its own destiny and protect its residents and property owners well into the future."

According to the release, the village is willing to maintain the 18 miles of unincorporated roads at no cost to unincorporated residents, in perpetuity or until a time when these areas are annexed into the village.

Shortly after this announcement, Homer Township filed a referendum to abolish the road district. The wording of the referendum may be confusing for voters, as both entities want conflicting things.

According to the village, the passage of the referendum with a "yes" vote would "prove costly to taxpayers and undermine the creation of the Village's public works department." The Village would also relinquish control of the Village's streets and funding from the Road District to the Township Board.

If voters vote "no," the Village can move forward with its plans to secure the stewardship of the roads.

According to the Township website, a "no" vote could have the potential for "unnecessary litigation" because the commissioner's "unlawful transfer of assets to one stakeholder will need to be challenged by court action."

The township said a "yes" vote would reduce taxes since two taxing bodies would be merged into one. The tax levy line item for the township road district would be removed from property tax bills.

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