Patrick Ford said he had two priorities when he and his wife went looking for a place to raise a family.
”Police and fire, in that particular order,” said Ford, 42, who settled on Hinsdale. ”I am very concerned about my kids living in a permanent environment where they could put down roots. You want to keep the kids safe.” His wife, Dolores, added a third to the priority list: schools.
”When you see the test scores of the kids out here versus the scores of kids elsewhere, I think we are obviously getting our money`s worth,” she said. ”Our kids test out well, and the teachers are caring.”
Between them, the Fords, who have four children, reflect the attitudes of many Du Page residents, according to a Tribune poll on county issues.
Asked which government agencies gave them the best services for their tax dollars, three out of four among 617 respondents said police and fire departments or their local schools.
The results, residents and officials said, are not surprising, given two traditional beliefs: all politics are local, and basic government services, such as police and fire, garbage pickup and education, are vital.
”Most people think police and fire has to be there,” said Richard Arnold, village president of Lombard.
”And they have to fix the streets and plow the streets. Schools would have to be next.”
All of the residents queried in the poll were asked which local government services were the most important. Though they were allowed to give two answers, the majority gave only one. After police and fire, with 41 percent, and schools, with 36 percent, the services identified most often were libraries at 13 percent and parks at 12 percent.
At the bottom of the list was county government, named by only 8 percent of the respondents.
”I don`t think many of us understand what they do,” said Dick Lanade, 40, of Wheaton. ”We know they bicker and argue and they get a lot of our tax money.
”But if the County Board were to disappear tomorrow, I don`t think many of us would miss them,” he said.
And Arnold contended: ”No one in this town can name all four people from this district on the County Board. Everybody knows my name.”
County Clerk Gary King said he was not surprised by the poll results. But, he said, ”The county provides a lot of services a lot of people aren`t even aware of. Unless they need a marriage or birth certificate, they might never come in contact with my office.”
One of the functions of King`s office to issue the annual guide to Du Page government.
The guide includes a breakdown of where property tax dollars go, and the top two expenditures match the top priorities of residents-schools, with 66 cents per dollar, and local government, with 9.5 cents.
Nevertheless, for many residents the question itself tapped simmering resentment over the tax dollars they contribute and the way those dollars are spent.
Ford said government has crossed over the point where the dollars spent in taxes are justified.
”I can tell you the service is no better than when I moved here nine years ago, and the taxes are double.
”Who is really tickled to death with the services they are getting for their tax dollar?”
Not Larry Basart, of Glen Ellyn.
Like the majority, Basart, 55, said local government gave him the best return for his tax dollar. But he emphasized that his answer was not meant to be an enthusiastic endorsement.
For one thing, he said, his answer was based a good bit on the process of elimination. A lifelong bachelor with no children who travels a lot in his job, Basart said he uses the library occasionally, doesn`t follow the County Board and gets ”nothing back for my tax dollar in schools and parks.”
It`s not that he`s opposed to paying for those items, he said. In fact, he said it`s only fair that single people pay their share toward schools since education ostensibly benefits all of society.
But, he said, ”At all levels of government, we are paying more than we are getting. There is an excessive amount of waste.”
Although Lanade was highly critical of county government, he said he also believes schools are among the worst wasters of tax dollars.
Though he has several children currently attending public schools, he is dissatisfied with what the schools offer them compared to the money they get. ”They`re going far and beyond their original charter,” he said. ”Their original purpose was to teach the basics, and I think they`ve gone above and beyond that, into areas like family life. It`s not the responsibility of the schools to teach that.”
Several public officials said the poll results provide a glimpse into the root of increasing voter dissatisfaction with government.
Bensenville Mayor John Geils said that though most people in government know that the local services are closest to the people, it`s the broader-based government entities higher up in the chain that wield the most power.
”If government were to work properly, it would come from the bottom up, not the top down,” said Geils, who is serving a term as president of the Du Page Mayors and Managers Conference. ”It`s never worked that way. It`s always the feds working their way down. That`s the sad part of government in general.”
