Increasingly, special interest groups seek legislation in Springfield to mandate that local government provide some special service or program. Although these mandates do not reflect a statewide need, often the General Assembly passes a new law or amends a regulation to accommodate that special interest. The end result is a mandate that diverts local taxes to implement a requirement that is not needed and not wanted. Local officials are then left with the choice to increase taxes to pay for the mandate or decrease local services and programs desired by their citizens. Local citizens and businesses pay for most state mandates through increased local taxes and fees.
Most mandates are unfunded or underfunded.
The costs for implementation and maintenance are borne by local taxes or fees. A. Exact figures are not available. The survey showed that both large and small local governments are affected by the unfunded mandates problem. As a percentage of their budget, small local governments may be spending more on unfunded mandates than larger communities. This report was unable to document a financial cost of substantial mandates such as mandated collective bargaining laws.