Illinois second in local fines and forfeitures

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A new report has found Illinois ranks second among all U.S. states in per-capita fines and forfeitures collected by local governments.

Vittorio Nastasi, director of criminal justice policy at Reason Foundation, said monetary sanctions for criminal and local ordinance violations are sometimes used to fund courts and basic government operations.

“The problem we were trying to map was trying to understand the extent extent to which local governments rely on court and law enforcement revenues to fund their governments,” Nastasi told The Center Square.

The report titled “Taxation by Citation” found that Illinois generates the second-largest share of local general revenue from fines and forfeitures of all 50 states. Illinois is also second in the nation in per-capita fines and forfeitures collected by local governments, at $53.76 per resident, more than double the national weighted average of $24.77.

Nastasi said people in local governments are sometimes not willing to pay for the government they want.

“Taxation by citation is one way by which you can try to avoid the cost of government, but those costs exist,” Nastasi told The Center Square.

According to the report, the use of monetary penalties can become exploitative when governments rely on law enforcement and courts as essential sources of revenue.

When asked by The Center Square if fines and forfeitures might be a way for local governments to lessen the taxpayer burden for residents, Nastasi said locals can sometimes avoid the costs of their government by extracting revenue from nonresidents.

“It still affects residents of the state or people who are visiting. That impacts how appealing it might be to visit the local government or the state,” Nastasi said.

“Taxation by Citation” reviewed 8,054 cities.

Nastasi said the Franklin County city of Orient collects $22 per capita in fines.

“They actually collect more than a dollar in fines and forfeitures than per dollar in general revenue,” Nastasi said.

When asked about the report finding that Orient is one of only 11 cities in the country that collect more in fines and forfeitures than general revenue, Orient Mayor Jan Segatto told The Center Square that the revenues likely come from the court system.

“We haven’t levied fines in decades,” Segatto said.

Orient has a population of about 300 people.

When asked about taxpayer impact, Segatto said Orient has not raised its tax levy since he began serving in city government in 2013.

“We try to keep taxes as low as possible,” Segatto said.

According to the report, Illinois has seven of the top 50 county governments that collect the most fines and fees per capita.

Livingston County topped Illinois and ranked 18th overall by taking in $184 per capita in fines and fees. Pulaski County ranked 21st with $142 per capita, and De Witt County ranked 28th at $106.

Officials from Livingston and Pulaski counties did not immediately respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.

Nastasi said revenues raised through the courts often pay for the courts.

“And that can obviously create some perverse incentives when you have courts funding themselves by imposing penalties on people or attaching fees to cases that are, you know, unrelated to the severity of an offense and the way that penalties usually are,” Nastasi told The Center Square.