Freeport May Get to Vote on Home Rule

Journal Standard: Census officials expect preliminary local results from the 2010 Census to surface in February or March of 2011. In Freeport, these results could push the population below a crucial threshold that determines whether the city qualifies as an automatic home-rule municipality. Freeport Corporation Counsel Sarah Griffin confirmed Thursday that the impending census results…

Bell to Refund Property Taxes It Overcharged

The State of California is forcing the city government of Bell, a non-prosperous suburb of Los Angeles whose administrators were among the most highly paid in the country, to refund $3 million in property taxes the municipality overcharged. About 4,000 property owners will be reimbursed under the plan. Bell is not the only California city…

Time to Look at Bell

Home to 37,000 people, Bell, California is one of the least prosperous suburbs of Los Angeles at a per capita income of about $24,000, yet its residents pay the second-highest property tax rate in Los Angeles County — even higher than that of Beverly Hills. The taxes have gone to pay some of the highest…

The Fatal Flaw in Home Rule Law

[This is the 2nd part of a series examining home rule in Illinois. The first one is here.] Municipal home rule powers are granted by the Illinois Constitution. Except as limited by this Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs including, but not…