Champaign County voters will decide two conflicting issues in November.
1. Do they wish to abolish the office of county auditor?
2. Who do they want to be the county auditor for the next four years: Republican Alan Anderson or Democratic incumbent George Danos?
The same issue is confronting McLean County voters after members of that county’s board approved posing a similar ballot question to voters there. Incumbent Auditor Michelle Anderson is running for re-election unopposed there.
Given the nature of the issues, what happens if voters abolish an office while electing an auditor? The answer appears to be that the prospective officeholder will be out of luck.
In a 2023 decision involving Peoria County, a state appeals court said Auditor Jessica Thomas forfeited her office after voters abolished it.
Appellate Justice Kathryn Zenoff wrote that Thomas has no “clearly ascertainable right to serve as county auditor because her ‘rights to the office ceased’ once the voters passed the referendum to eliminate the office.” She was joined in that opinion by justices Robert Steigmann and Peter Cavanagh.
The Illinois Supreme Court subsequently declined to review that decision.
Thomas had retained her office under a court order that expired after the appellate court ruled.
The proposal to eliminate the auditor’s office here represents the culmination of a long-standing battle between longtime incumbent Danos and his Democratic critics on the county board.
Under the board’s plan, the auditor’s duties would be transferred to the office of Champaign County Executive Steve Summers. Danos is opposed to that move because he said it would eliminate the post of an independent auditor who acts as a watchdog on county spending.
In addition to opposing the abolition of his public office, Danos said he vehemently objects to what he considers the cheerleading language of the referendum.
The question to be submitted to voters reads:
“Shall the elected office of the Champaign County Auditor be eliminated, effective December 1, 2024, as the County utilizes the statutorily required external auditor and this will be a cost savings of approximately $150,000?”
Danos described the language as “misleading and unfair” because it counts on voters being “confused about the difference between the internal (elected) auditor and the external auditor.”
He said the external auditor’s duties explicitly exclude “a detailed examination of all transactions, material misstatements,” etc., because that is the job of the elected auditor.
“The external auditor examines the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. That document is currently compiled by the elected auditor and his chief deputy,” Danos said.
He called the “promised savings” a “baseless impromptu guess” that should have been stricken from the question.
Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said her office “suggested” proposing a simpler ballot question to voters, but the advice was rejected.
During the county board’s recent meeting, one board member asserted that the $150,000 savings estimate is unproven. But the board majority voted 15-5 to put the question to the voters.
Ironically, members of the McLean County Board debated what they considered biased referendum language that was originally included in their referendum question.
The original question to be put to McLean County voters is quite similar to the language that will be presented to Champaign County voters.
The Bloomington Pantagraph reported the original language stated that McLean County “already contracts with an external auditor as required by law” and promised “great cost savings to the county.”
But a majority of board members approved simpler, more straightforward language because, as one said, “The referendum question is not supposed to convince a voter to vote a certain way. It’s asking a question.”
As re-written, the question to be put to voters is, “Shall McLean County eliminate the elected office of auditor?”
Illinois has 102 counties, just 15 of which have an elected auditor.
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