A Request to Update Illinois Law and Give Residents the Right to Vote

We, the residents of Virden, Illinois, and other communities affected by the Sanitary District Act of 1917, respectfully ask State Representative Wayne Rosenthal and State Senator Steve McClure to support a change to Illinois law.

We are NOT asking the Illinois General Assembly to dissolve the Virden Sanitary District.

We are asking for something much simpler:

Give the residents who live in the Sanitary District the right to decide for themselves whether the District should continue to exist.

If enough residents believe the District should be dissolved, they should be able to collect signatures, meet reasonable requirements, and put the question on the ballot.

Then the people—not politicians, appointed trustees, or government officials—can decide.

 
The People Who Live Under the District Should Have a Voice

The Virden Sanitary District is a separate unit of local government. It provides sewer service, collects sewer charges, and receives tax revenue from the people it serves.

But there is an important difference between the Sanitary District and most local governments:

The residents do not elect the people who run it.

The Sanitary District is governed by a three-member board of trustees. Those trustees are appointed, rather than elected by the residents.

That means residents do not get to vote for the people making decisions for the District.

Just as importantly, residents cannot simply vote those trustees out of office if they disagree with how the District is being run.

With an elected official, voters have a direct form of accountability:

If you don't like the job they're doing, you can vote them out.

The same option does not exist with the Sanitary District's appointed trustees.

Residents can attend meetings. They can contact officials. They can speak up. They can ask for changes.

But when it comes to the people actually governing the District, residents have no direct vote.

That creates a serious gap in accountability.

 
Residents Have No Direct Vote on the Future of the District

This raises an even bigger question:

If residents cannot elect the people running the District, shouldn't they at least have a way to vote on whether the District itself should continue to exist?

Right now, residents do not have that option under the 1917 Act.

People who live within the District:

Pay property taxes that help fund it.
Pay sewer bills for its services.
Depend on it for an essential public service.
Live with the decisions made by its trustees.
Have no direct vote to elect those trustees.
Have no direct vote to remove those trustees.
And do not have a clear resident-initiated process to put the question of dissolution before the voters.
That should change.

 
Illinois Already Has a Similar Process

This request is not asking Illinois to invent an entirely new idea.

Illinois law already provides a way for residents of certain sanitary districts created under the Sanitary District Act of 1936 to petition for a dissolution referendum.

Under that law, residents can meet the required petition requirements and ask for the question to be placed before voters. The voters then decide whether the district should be dissolved.

In other words, Illinois already recognizes the basic idea that:

Residents of a sanitary district should be able to gather support and ask their fellow residents to vote on the future of their local government.

The problem is that residents of sanitary districts operating under the 1917 Act do not have the same general opportunity.

Why should the law give residents different democratic rights simply because their sanitary district was created under an older law?

 
We Are Asking for a Vote—Not Automatic Dissolution

This point is extremely important.

Signing this petition would not dissolve the Virden Sanitary District.

Even if legislation is passed, the District would not automatically disappear.

Instead, the law would create a process.

Step 1 — Residents gather signatures
A reasonable number or percentage of qualified voters living within the District would have to sign a petition requesting a dissolution referendum.

Step 2 — The petition is reviewed
A court would make sure the petition meets the requirements established by law.

Step 3 — A plan is created
Before any vote, there would need to be a plan explaining what would happen to the District's:

Sewer system
Buildings and equipment
Employees
Contracts
Debt
Grants
Permits
Property
Customer accounts
Other responsibilities
The plan would also identify who would take over responsibility for providing sewer service if the District were dissolved.

Step 4 — Residents vote
The question would be placed on the ballot and the people living within the District would decide.

Step 5 — The majority decides
The District would only be dissolved if a majority of voters voting on the question approved dissolution.

Step 6 — The transition is completed
If the voters approved dissolution, the appropriate court and governmental agencies would oversee the transition and make sure the District's responsibilities were properly transferred.

 
The Sewer System Would Continue to Operate

Nobody is suggesting that the sewer system should simply disappear.

Sewer service is an essential public service, and any change in government structure must protect the people who depend on it.

Any new law should require a clear plan for continuing:

Sewer collection and treatment
Treatment facilities
Sewer lines
Lift stations
Equipment
Employees
Customer accounts
Billing
Permits
Environmental requirements
Debt and contracts
Property and easements

The goal would be to change who is responsible for the system, if the voters choose dissolution—not to abandon the system itself.

Illinois law already recognizes the need to address these issues when a sanitary district is dissolved.

The proposed change would simply give residents a voice in starting that process.

 
This Is About Accountability

This petition should not be viewed as a demand that the Virden Sanitary District must be dissolved.

The real question is:

Should Virden residents have the right to decide for themselves?

If the majority of voters believe the Sanitary District is working well and should remain in place, then it remains.

If the majority believes the current structure is no longer the best way to provide these services, then the voters should have a legal way to say so.

That is what democracy is supposed to provide:

The people affected by government should have a meaningful voice in how that government is structured.

 
Why This Matters in Virden

The issue has become especially important because of disagreements between the City of Virden and the Virden Sanitary District involving issues such as billing, customer service, water-use information, rates, and the relationship between the two governmental bodies.

These disagreements do not need to determine the outcome.

The answer does not have to be that the City should take control.

The answer does not have to be that the Sanitary District should remain exactly as it is.

The people should be allowed to decide. Rather than having government officials make that decision for residents, Illinois law should give residents a fair and orderly way to bring the question to a public vote.

 
The Appointment System Makes This Even More Important

The fact that the Sanitary District's trustees are appointed rather than elected makes this issue especially important.

Residents are being asked to live with decisions made by people they did not elect.

And if residents believe those decisions are wrong, they cannot simply wait for the next election and vote the trustees out.

There is no normal election in which residents can say:

"We don't approve of the job you're doing, so we're choosing someone else."

The appointment system removes that direct form of accountability.

That does not mean appointed trustees cannot serve the community well. It does not mean every decision they make is wrong.

It simply means that the residents do not have the same democratic control over their local government that they have over elected officials.

Giving residents the ability to petition for a referendum would provide an important check on that system.

It would give the people one direct way to have their voices heard about the future of the government serving them.

 
The Legislature Has Changed This Law Before

The Sanitary District Act of 1917 has been changed many times over the years.

The Illinois General Assembly has already recognized that the law may need to be updated as circumstances change.

In 2016, the Legislature amended the law to create a dissolution process initiated by district board members for certain sanitary districts involving a successor municipality and court approval.

The law can be updated again.

This proposal would simply add something that is currently missing:

A way for the residents themselves to start the conversation and, if enough people support it, put the question before the voters.
 
What We Are Asking Representative Rosenthal and Senator McClure to Do

We respectfully ask State Representative Wayne Rosenthal and State Senator Steve McClure to:

-Support legislation updating the Sanitary District Act of 1917.
-Create a process allowing residents to petition for a referendum on whether a 1917 Act sanitary district should be dissolved.
-Set reasonable petition requirements so that a small number of people cannot force a referendum without meaningful community support.
-Require the courts to review the petition before an election is held.
-Require a majority vote before a sanitary district can be dissolved.
-Require a transition plan showing how sewer service, property, employees, contracts, debt, permits, and other responsibilities would be handled.
-Remove or change the current population limitation that can prevent residents from using the existing referendum procedure.
-Work with Virden residents, the City of Virden, and the Virden Sanitary District to create a fair process that protects taxpayers, customers, employees, creditors, and continued sewer service.
 
The Bottom Line

We are not asking the Legislature to dissolve the Virden Sanitary District.

We are asking the Legislature to give Virden residents the right to ask for a vote.

The people who live here are the people who:

Pay the taxes.

Pay the sewer bills.

Depend on the sewer system.

Live with the decisions made by the District.

Yet those same residents do not elect the people who govern the District and cannot vote them out of office.

That means residents currently have very little direct democratic control over this local government.

We believe that should change.

Give the residents a voice.
Give the residents the right to petition.
Give the residents the right to vote.
Let the people decide whether the Virden Sanitary District should continue to exist.

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