Talk:La Grange, Illinois

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What do the words "home rule" mean in this context? The link points to a page about British politics. &mdash;Morven 00:46, Aug 19, 2004 (UTC)


 * Good question. I did some research and here's what I discovered...


 * A village is a municipality, and all municipalities are by definition "creatures of the state" in which they reside. Any and all powers and authority a municipality, (such as the Village of La Grange), may possess are derived from the state, (in this case Illinois), either in its constitution or via enabling legislation.


 * The concept of "home rule" in Illinois is explained in the following excerpt from a community newsletter published by the Village of Homewood, Illinois, which in May 2004 authorized a voter referendum on the matter:


 * Home Rule is the authority granted municipalities that allows them to govern at a higher level than non-Home Rule communities. The Illinois Constitution of 1970 granted municipalities with a population of more than 25,000, and those municipalities with less than 25,000 that adopt Home Rule by referendum, additional powers independent of the State.


 * Specifically, a non-Home Rule municipality can only pass ordinances if a specific State statute allows it. A Home Rule municipality can pass ordinances on various matters unless a State statute prohibits it. In short, Home Rule allows municipalities to find local solutions to local problems. Proponents of Home Rule assert that the main advantage is a grass roots approach to problem-solving. Subject to some restrictions, municipalities with Home Rule power can do for themselves what they previously would have to ask Springfield (the state capitol) to do. Since many issues are germane to a particular community and local officials know their communities best, Home Rule allows local officials to be more flexible and responsive to their constituents.
 * Click here for a link to the full document


 * In Illinois, 157 municipalities have home rule status, 78 by population and 79 by referendums. La Grange is not one of them. Homewood's referendum failed, by the way.  Hope this helps.  T Garth 03:47, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * Fascinating. Is Illinois the only state that does this?  We should probably have a Wikipedia article on the subject. &mdash;Morven 04:21, Aug 19, 2004 (UTC)


 * I know that both Michigan and New Jersey, states in which I also have resided, are strong home-rule states. Home rule is a bane for those who advocate regional planning because autonomous municipalities have little incentive to consider one another's interests or, more importantly, those they have in common.


 * For example, one NJ township with which I'm familiar, allowed the development of a major office park in an otherwise bucolic residential area knowing that, while it would reap the benefit of tax ratables, a neighboring township that directly abutted the development would suffer the lion's share of the traffic it generated.


 * The reason voters in Homewood, and three other nearby communities, rejected a home-rule referendum, I gather, is that they feared the increased taxation powers that home rule would have given their town leaders. In fact, voters in Rockford (Illinois' second-largest city; pop. 151,000) revoked their city's home-rule powers for just that reason.  more details T Garth 05:14, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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