Should Cook County dissolve its four suburban mosquito abatement districts?

More than a bit of buzz surrounds a recently released Civic Federation report calling for the dissolution of four suburban mosquito abatement districts that collectively receive roughly $9.3 million a year in property taxes.

Some Cook County Board members are requesting closer scrutiny of the mosquito districts following an investigation by the county’s inspector general that resulted in calls for members of the appointed oversight board at one district to resign.

“It would seem best to me to consolidate them,” said 12th District County Board Commissioner Bridget Degnen. “I think it’s more a patchwork now and having it consolidated under the county would provide a streamlined approach with consistent services throughout all of Cook County.”

She said the county board would likely issue a formal response to the Civic Federation’s report in the coming weeks.

However, some abatement district officials and county board members aren’t as sure the county will receive the outcomes the federation is hoping for through elimination or consolidation.

“I think residents would lose coverage and individuality they have now,” said James Thennisch, director of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District that provides coverage for seven townships in the Northwest panhandle of Cook County. “Ultimately, the taxpayer would lose the level of service they receive now.”

The Civic Federation, a Chicago-based nonpartisan government research organization, issued its report late last month suggesting the services provided by the four suburban mosquito abatement districts be folded into a county agency like the public health department.

Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson said the report was spurred by county board members who were troubled by an inspector general’s report from 2021 that found the South Cook County Mosquito Abatement District’s appointed board had violated state law and district policy by paying themselves to attend meetings.

At the time, the inspector general’s office recommended the panel resign, but an updated investigation report released last week found that most board members were still serving, some beyond their appointed terms.

Most troubling in the update is that four current and one former board member were paid a combined $34,100 since 2017 to attend meetings in violation of state law banning mosquito abatement trustees from receiving compensation.

“This is low-hanging fruit,” Ferguson said. “There are gross redundancies and inefficiencies.”

Ferguson said the boards can dissolve themselves and the county can bring the workers under the umbrella of the county public health department, likely reducing costs in the process.

In an emailed statement, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said her office is working to replace members of the South County board.

“In securing new appointees, our priority remains ensuring that all appointees uphold the highest standards of accountability, transparency and service to Cook County residents,” Preckwinkle said.

As for the Civic Federation’s report, Preckwinkle isn’t ready to commit to consolidation or elimination.

“Dissolving these districts does not represent a simple solution,” she said. “It requires thoughtful public engagement, collaboration with the districts themselves, a more thorough assessment of their effectiveness and a realistic evaluation of the county’s capacity to take on their responsibilities.”

District 9 Cook County Board Commissioner Maggie Trevor said the county should conduct a more thorough study to determine the effects of any changes.

“One of the things I’ve learned in my relatively short time on the board is that sometimes when you crunch the numbers, it doesn’t result in the savings you’d think,” she said.

In their 2023 fiscal years, the four districts — Northwest in the panhandle, North Shore along the lakefront, Des Plaines Valley to the west and South County — generated nearly $11.4 million in revenue and spent a combined $9.5 million, according to their audits.

The districts’ audits also showed a combined $6.8 million in reserves in 2023.

Property tax collections translated to about $1.83 per resident in 2023.

Expenses largely are related to personnel costs, which also come with pensions. Most mosquito abatement districts outside Cook County collect taxes and contract pest control services to private companies to avoid legacy costs such as pensions and retiree health care.

Officials at the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, which covers Wheeling, Palatine, Barrington, Hanover, Schaumburg, Elk Grove and Maine townships, said the work is more than just spraying indiscriminately during the warm months.

“We’re doing treatments at 90,000 catch basins, surveillance of traps to locate diseased mosquitoes and we’re constantly mapping and cataloging potential problem sites,” Thennisch said. “We’ve recently started monitoring ticks as those populations begin to rise.”

Thennisch said residents would likely lose many of those area-specific services if the county eliminated the districts and went to a private provider.

He also noted the issues that spawned the investigations and studies involved just one of the four districts, and it pertained to the board’s actions, not the staff.

“We have recently upgraded our technology to provide better transparency about the district’s operations,” Thennisch said. “Everything we offer to the public is available on the website. Nothing’s hidden or beyond anyone’s control or sight.”