Why townships

In other expanding urban areas, the township may incorporate itself into a city; this can be seen in the numerous square cities of Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are different; these states have civil townships that are not based on the PLSS survey system, but on the older Metes and bounds survey system. A New Jersey township differs only in name from other municipalities: its boundaries are fixed, it is an incorporated body, and it is free to adopt another form of government.

The Federal Government has frequently failed to allow for this; some New Jersey municipalities, such as the Township of the Borough of Verona or Township of South Orange Village [1] , changed their names to qualify for additional Federal aid.

Towns and townships are considered minor civil divisions of counties by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. According to the Census Bureau, in town or township government applied to 16, organized governments in the following 20 states:.

This categorization includes governmental units officially designated as "Towns" in the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin, some plantations in Maine and locations in New Hampshire. In Minnesota, the terms town and township are used interchangeably with regard to township governments.

Although towns in the six New England states and New York, and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are legally termed municipal corporations, perform municipal-type functions, and frequently serve densely populated urban areas, they have no necessary relation to concentration of population, and are thus counted for census purposes as town or township governments.

Even in states beyond New England, townships often serve urbanized areas and provide municipal services typically provided by incorporated municipalities. Michigan has created charter townships as a separate type of government to allow greater flexibility for township governments to serve urbanized populations. The count of 16, organized township governments does not include unorganized township areas where the township may exist in name only, but has no organized government or where the townships are coextensive with cities and the cities have absorbed the township functions.

It also does not include townships in Iowa , which are not separate governments, but are classified as subordinate agencies of county governments. Of the 16, town or township governments, only 1, 7. There was a decline in the number of town or township governments from 16, in to 16, in Nearly all of the decline involved townships in the Midwest. Because township government is defined by each state, the use of this form also varies by state. States using a township form include:. Ballotpedia features , encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers.

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A A geographical subdivision. A piece of land demarcated from the larger piece of land in which it is located. The geographical subdivision of a piece of land by a government depends on a variety of factors such as its placement on a map, boundary lines drawn, distinct physical features, population, land size, and zoning restrictions.

B A political subdivision: A township may also be created to better represent a political subdivision. Political subdivisions are established so that they can carry out specific government functions delegated to them. They include counties, cities, towns, villages, and special districts such as school districts, water districts, park districts, and airport districts.

C A property index system: In Illinois, counties establish a property index system to assess and collect taxes. In counties that use this system, a unique permanent index number PIN is assigned to each property. They include:. INC, Tax Divisions. Illinois currently has 1, 1 township governments. According to the Census of Governments by the U. Census Bureau, out of the counties in Illinois, 85 have township governments.

The town of Cicero is unique in that it exists only as a township despite acting more like an independent city. For instance, Cicero has a township president although no mayor , a fire department, and a police department. Yet, Cicero was never incorporated as a municipality and has always instead been treated as a coterminous township. A coterminous township is one that shares the same boundary as the municipality in which it is located.

In other words, the township can act like a municipality, perform some of the same functions as the municipality, and share the same boundaries as the municipality, but is still considered a separate governmental unit. In Illinois, township governments have a long and controversial history. In that same year, 24 counties voted to adopt a township government. Today, Illinois has 1, townships. Whether townships are an important unit of Illinois government remains a heavily debated question.

In addition, proponents argue townships maintain the roads and bridges that play an imperative role for police and fire protection, school buses, and the postal service—particularly in rural areas.

Proponents argue that if taxes are increased as a result of government consolidation and townships are dissolved, it could lead to the elimination of important services on which township residents currently rely. Opponents of townships strongly disagree with these arguments. They argue that with 7, local government units, Illinois has more units of government than any other state 4 , partly owing to its existing 1, townships. They argue that townships create multiple layers of impenetrable bureaucracy while simultaneously increasing property taxes.

Opponents frequently cite reports that local government consolidation would lower property taxes and save money. In , the Township of Evanston was abolished and its functions were absorbed by the City of Evanston with which it originally shared its borders.

The primary reason for abolishing the township was to save taxpayers money and eliminate administrative functions that were already carried out by the City of Evanston. In early , Rep. David McSweeney R sponsored a bill proposing McHenry County be given the power to consolidate its townships following a majority vote in a referendum.

They diligently budget, plan and monitor to make the most of a small budget. Quality services: Townships go above and beyond their statutory duties to provide quality services to residents, such as fire, police, elections, parks and recreation and more.

Urban townships provide these services while limited by law to half the maximum property rate authorized to cities. Small townships often deliver these services with part-time officials and employees who receive nominal salaries and often no benefits.