To home rule or not to home rule? That is the question to Glencoe voters

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Glencoe voters will head to the ballot box to weigh in on a notable shift in governance that’s been on the mind of local officials for decades. 

Glencoe’s Village Board during an August meeting earlier this year approved a resolution that places the question of home-rule status in the hands of voters in the upcoming November general election. 

As previously reported by The Record, Glencoe trustees informally signaled support in late March for taking another swing at altering the village’s governance structure.  

The town has on multiple occasions since the late 1980s attempted to become a home-rule community but has been unsuccessful in its quest to do so. 

Why is home rule on the ballot?

Municipalities can achieve home-rule status by either obtaining a population of at least 25,000 residents — Glencoe’s 2020 census population was 8,723 — or by successfully passing a local referendum. 

A home-rule referendum can be placed on the ballot either through a petition submitted by local voters or via an ordinance passed by the Village Board.

Nearly all of Glencoe’s neighbors have home-rule status. The only town in The Record’s coverage area of New Trier Township that shares Glencoe’s non-home-rule status is Kenilworth. 

According to information from the village, multiple nearby communities that have not met the population requirement to become home-rule have done so via the passage of a referendum. Some of those communities include Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northfield and Winnetka. 

As previously reported by The Record, Glencoe officials preferred placing the referendum question on the November ballot given the anticipated high voter turnout. 

“That’s why we’re going to put this on the ballot in November,” he said. “We want to make sure everyone can participate. We’re not hiding.” 

Village officials’ case for home-rule status

Glencoe is currently a non-home-rule community, meaning the village is subject to all state legislation and mandates, village officials have previously explained. Home-rule communities, as detailed in village documents, have additional authority over their operating procedures. 

Nikki Larson, Glencoe’s deputy village manager/chief financial officer, reiterated during the August meeting some of the challenges Glencoe currently faces because of its non-home-rule status. 

Glencoe faces a lack of flexibility to enact local ordinances that residents have requested, is limited in its ability to pay for certain infrastructure fixes for periods over 20 years and has limited tools to seek to reduce the village’s reliance on property taxes, Larson said. 

During previous meetings discussing home rule, officials have also stated other key limitations, such as timelines for financing capital, the administration of certain zoning restrictions, restrictions on multi-year purchasing contracts and the inability to legislate local issues.  

Larson also outlined several benefits officials believe Glencoe can achieve by shifting to home-rule status. 

Per Larson, the change in status would offer greater flexibility to govern locally, including providing local authority on regulations that impact residents or to opt out of regulations set forth by the state or county. 

The move would result in financial advantage for the village and its taxpayers, Larson argued, adding that home-rule status would give Glencoe the ability to strengthen the village’s multi-year contracts. 

Additionally, officials have stated that home-rule governance can also wind up improving the village’s public safety recruitment and retention efforts, maintain its strong credit rating, and create additional flexibility in managing debt related to local infrastructure projects. 

“Although Home Rule authority does not provide a solution to every problem the village may encounter, it does accommodate options that the Village Board can consider to address the needs of the community,” Larson said. 

Village President Howard Roin also addressed the community during the board’s August meeting, saying that he believes home rule is the “right and smart move for our village.” 

Roin said home rule would give the village and its residents, rather than the state and county government, control over village affairs.

Opposition to home rule

During the board’s mid-August session, Roin told the community that there has been some opposition to home rule, mainly from the trade association representing real estate brokers. 

Roin said communications that appear to be on behalf of the Real Estate Brokers Association have argued that a shift to home rule status will result in higher property taxes, more debt and “more red tape.” 

Roin responded by saying those assertions are “not true.”

“The experience of our home rule neighbors, and that means virtually all of our neighboring communities, simply does not support that,” Roin said. 

One email, according to Roin, argued that rejecting home rule would “keep Glencoe special.”

But the village president detested that notion, saying “not being home rule is not responsible for anything positive in Glencoe. Not one thing.” 

“Yes, we’re different because we’re not home rule but only because we have less control of our destiny and our residents get to pay extra,” he said. “I don’t think our residents want to be different in that way.” 

Other opponents of home rule have argued that adopting the status will allow the village to increase spending and taxing without restraint. 

Trustees, during the Aug. 15 meeting, however, approved a resolution that commits the village to maintaining the state of Illinois-imposed property tax cap if the home rule referendum is approved, according to the village of Glencoe’s website. 

Village of Glencoe Home Rule Referendum

Referendum Purpose: To achieve home-rule status
Additional Cost to Taxpayer (estimated, annual): No direct costs
Previous Recent Referendums: 2023 — $15 million bond referendum for Glencoe Golf Course (approved); 2021 — $10 million bond referendum for several capital projects (approved)
Meaning of Home Rule Status: Home rule units can perform any action (including taxation) that is not directly prohibited by state or federal law, while non-home-rule communities must follow all mandates from state and county government.

Ballot Question

Shall the Village of Glencoe become a home rule unit?