There are about 80 active drainage districts located within Champaign County, which can levy taxes on property owners. In addition, there are hundreds of subdistricts.
The districts are meant to oversee drainage and improvement of land for agricultural and sanitary purposes. County settlement sheets show the sum of the district’s assessments. For example, in 2022, sheets showed total assessments for drainage districts summed more than $1.7 million.
As for a district’s financial records, they are filed with the county courthouse clerk.
But the drainage districts seldom receive news coverage or attention outside of legally required filings, and financial records can be difficult to locate on the court website or in a newspaper. Often, press inquiries are referred to one of the group of law firms that specialize in representing drainage districts.
For example, in October 2021, a CU-CitizenAccess reporter asked two Fountain Head Drainage District commissioners about the district’s financial documents and meeting minutes, who each referred the reporter to the district’s lawyer.
The reporter filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the lawyer who represented that district and about 40 other districts. Under Illinois law, these requests should be fulfilled within five business days but can be extended under certain circumstances.
The requested documents weren’t received until January the next year.
In addition, some district commissioners are elected in a unique way. The elections are held on the first Tuesday in September each year and last for just two hours, but ballots can be cast by any individual who owns land within the districts.
Three commissioners – who are landowners with property in the district – are ultimately chosen to care for and maintain each main district. This unique selection process isn’t the case for every drainage district in the county.
“In Illinois the drainage district when it is formed decides if the commissioners are elected or appointed,” Champaign County Circuit Clerk Susan McGrath said in an email.
Though drainage districts are not county agencies but rather separate legal entities, some districts have the local county board appoint the commissioners.
Even leading up to yearly elections, McGrath said communication between the districts and landowners within their jurisdictions relies mainly on commissioners. This may lessen the number of constituents showing up to vote.
“In my first term of office, I haven’t seen a lot of people voting in the elections for drainage district commissioner,” McGrath said. “Our office does not send out notices for the elections. We help put together the elections, and we run the publications for the elections, but the districts are in charge of any other information about the elections themselves.”
Yet some districts maintain they are transparent in their operations and finances, pointing to court filings, county web pages and legal ads.
The districts are meant to provide flood prevention, improved soil and sanitation, and public health and increased crop growth may result from their operations.
Some critics say the districts are an old system that should be replaced by city or county management. Several years ago, a bill was proposed in the state legislature that would allow the elimination of more than 850 drainage districts in Illinois.
Nonetheless, the Champaign County Resource Management Plan states these districts have the right to impose assessments on any landowners within the district to cover costs like construction, maintenance and additional improvement projects.
In 2022, East Lake Fork Special Drainage District, Big Slough Special Drainage District and Fountain Head Drainage District received the most funds from these assessments within Champaign County. These districts and subdistricts alone collected a total of $382,196 from landowners that year, according to Champaign County’s annual settlement sheets.
Taxes on individual property owners ranged from tens to hundreds of dollars. A Champaign County Property Tax Inquiry search revealed that one landowner paid $25, another $109 and a third over $600. However, assessments on farmland tend to be more than $100.
“District size, changes in the number of parcels per district, previous maintenance, and new requirements all factor into the differences in taxing rates,” Champaign County Treasurer Cassandra Johnson said in an email. “Each drainage district determines their needs for funding based on upkeep requirements and determines the equitable portion each parcel should pay.”
Drainage district commissioners are responsible for estimating these costs and developing budgets, communicating with landowners about proposed projects and assessing and collecting taxes.
“Some regular costs include reimbursing various vendors for annual maintenance done, association dues, paying lawyer fees for regular filings required by statute and insurance … Additional or special assessments come into play when an unforeseen project or expense arises, a shortfall in funding is identified or when dealing with multi-year projects,” Johnson said.
The expenses may rise or fall year-to-year. Unlike county financial reports, the district commissioners file the required documents at the courthouse to request approval for additional funding. Any district’s filings and budget reports can be found at the courthouse.