DuPage County, Illinois

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County websites

Contents

DuPage County is one of 102 counties in the State of Illinois.

[edit] Website evaluation

Main Article: Evaluation of Illinois county websites

[edit] The good

  • A full list of county board members and their contact information is available.[1]
  • Administrative officials and their contact information are listed under their respective departments.[2]
  • Meeting agendas are available,[3]along with meeting schedule.[4]
  • Information on building permits and zoning is available.[5]
  • Local tax information is provided.[6]
  • County contracts provided. [7]
  • How to make a public records request is posted, along with the FOIA request form.[8] The form is available for download and can be filled out online.
  • Financial reports and budgets are available on the Finance Department page.[9] A calendar for the budget process, including board meetings regarding the budget, is posted.

[edit] The bad

  • Information on lobbying is not provided.

[edit] Budget

In October, 2009, the Civic Federation endorsed DuPage County’s FY2010 budget plan, stating that "it maintains funding for core programs while providing property tax relief." [10]

[edit] Ethics Ordinance amendments

In January 2010, the County Board adopted ammendments[11] to the county's Ethics Ordinance. The full text, along with information explaining the changes and the ordinance was made available. Additional links point to pages identifying:[12]

  • Members of the Ethics Commission, their responsibilities, and meeting schedule,
  • Procedures for filing a complaint along with the requisite form,
  • Contractor/Vendor Forms and instructions related to Procurement Services, which are required in order to affirm that a Contractor/Vendor including all principals of the business and their family members have not made any prohibited gifts to the Board Chairman, Board Members, any County employee or spouse or family member thereof,
  • Disclosure of campaign contributions to all County officials within the prior 12 months.

At least one county, Kane County, has followed in DuPage County's footsteps, attempting similar ethics ordinance reforms. [13]

[edit] Livestreaming County Board meetings

The county is working on live streaming webcasts of County Board meetings, which will afterward be available for viewing on-demand,[14] and anticipates implementation in April, 2010.

[edit] Posts check register

On January 12, 2009, Dupage County began posting its checkbook register online. The three new reports posted on the Auditor’s website will include: a detailed listing of county payments made by each elected office and department; a detailed report of payments grouped by vendor; and a detailed report of contract payments grouped by vendor.[15],[16], [17]

The policy was enacted under its new Auditor, Bob Grogan, who took office in December of 2008. A year later, Grogan is working to also post the salaries and contracts for the county.[18] He hopes it will encourage to be transparent and is offering the code free-of-charge to any that are interested.[18]

[edit] Ad Hoc Panel for transparency

Shortly after the posting the county check register, the County Chairman Robert J. Schillerstrom formed an Ad Hoc panel to discuss future tools and practices to allow greater government transparency.[19]

Working for accountable government now


[edit] List of School Districts in the County

Please note that under DuPage County law, any type of educational institution, including colleges and universities, is legally defined as a school.

[edit] Lobbying

In 2008, DuPage County reported $80,000 spent on lobbying. [20]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ County Board Members
  2. ↑ County Government Departments
  3. ↑ Meeting Agendas
  4. ↑ Meeting Schedule
  5. ↑ Building Permits and Zoning
  6. ↑ Tax Information
  7. ↑ Purchase Orders and Contract Expenditures
  8. ↑ Public Records Request
  9. ↑ Finance Department
  10. ↑ [1]
  11. ↑ Proposed Changes to County Ethics Policy
  12. ↑ DuPage County Ethics Ordinance and Related Information
  13. ↑ "New ethics reform proposal might be coming to Kane County", Daily Herald, February 26, 2010
  14. ↑ [ http://www.co.dupage.il.us/emplibrary/TE_minutes042809.pdf County Board Meetings, April 28, 2009]
  15. ↑ Dupage County Auditor, Checkbook register
  16. ↑ Illinois Review, Auditor Bob Grogan Posts DuPage County Check Register, January 12, 2009
  17. ↑ My Suburban Life, County to post financial information online, Jan. 14, 2009
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Wheaton Sun, 'Show them everything', December 11, 2009
  19. ↑ Dupage County, AD HOC COMMITTEE TO EXPAND TRANSPARENCY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT, Jan. 14, 2009
  20. ↑ DuPage County - Open Secrets
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