November 2, 2010 City of Naperville General Election Ballot
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Introduction
Question 1 - Term Limits
Question 2 - Districts
Question 3 - Pension Reform
Introduction
The following three public referenda questions will appear on the November 2, 2010 General Election Ballot for Naperville voters. The City of Naperville cannot legally take positions favoring or opposing public questions; rather, residents are encouraged to make informed decisions when voting.
Question 1 - Term Limits
Binding Public Referenda Question as it will Appear on the Ballot:
Shall the City of Naperville amend Section 1-5-1 of the Naperville Municipal Code to limit the number of consecutive terms which one person may serve as councilman to three consecutive full terms and to limit the number of consecutive terms which one person may serve as mayor to three consecutive full terms, to be effective beginning with the election in April, 2011 and applicable only prospectively to those persons elected to the office of councilman at the election in April 2011 and only prospectively to those persons elected to the office of mayor at the election in April 2011, and thereafter?
What Does the Question Mean?
This is a binding referendum, which means that if a majority of Naperville residents vote ‘yes,’ by law the City of Naperville Mayor and Councilmen will be subject to term limits in office – currently they are not subject to any term limits. If approved, any future Mayor or Councilman would be limited to three consecutive full terms beginning at the April 2011 election. A ‘full term’ consists of four (4) years in office.
If you support the term limits described above for the City of Naperville Mayor and Councilmen, you should vote ‘yes,’ if you oppose the term limits described above, you should vote ‘no.’
Why is the Question on the Ballot?
This question was placed on the ballot by the Naperville City Council after adopting Resolution 10-036.
Question 2 - Districts
Binding Public Referenda Question as it will Appear on the Ballot:
Shall the City of Naperville elect part of the councilmen at large and part of the councilmen from districts with staggered four year terms and biennial elections?
What Does the Question Mean?
This is a binding referendum, which means that if a majority of Naperville residents vote ‘yes,’ by law the City of Naperville will be divided into five (5) compact and contiguous geographic districts with approximately equal population; the Mayor and three (3) Councilmen will be elected at large while the remaining five (5) Councilmen will be elected from each of the five (5) districts. Currently there are no districts in Naperville and the Mayor and all eight (8) Councilmen are elected at large. If approved, in subsequent elections a resident would vote for one (1) Mayor, one (1) Councilman to represent their district, and three (3) at large Councilmen. The geographic boundaries of the five (5) districts would be determined by the City Council if the referendum question is approved.
If you support electing the Naperville City Council by having three (3) at large members and five (5) district members, you should vote ‘yes,’ if you oppose the districts described above, you should vote ‘no.’
Why is it on the Ballot?
This question was placed on the ballot by a Naperville citizen group, the Naperville Voter Education League, that gathered petitions signed by 2,640 City of Naperville registered voters.
Question 3 - Pension Reform
Advisory Public Referenda Question as it will Appear on the Ballot:
Should the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor immediately pass meaningful police and fire pension reform that will reduce the future funding obligation on local taxpayers now that the General Assembly and Governor have reformed the pension systems for all other public employees?
What Does the Question Mean?
This is an advisory referendum, which means it is for informational purposes only and no law is created if the referendum receives a majority of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ votes. Municipal employees are covered by public pension systems that are funded by the employee and the local taxpayer, but are controlled by the State of Illinois. Therefore changes to these pension systems must be made by the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor, not the Naperville City Council.
Over the past decade, police and fire pension systems throughout the State of Illinois have experienced mounting debt and escalating costs. The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 intensified the problem and local taxpayers are responsible for making up the investment losses of these pension funds.
In April 2010, the Governor signed Public Act 96-0889 into law, which approved substantial pension reform for new employees of all state controlled pension systems except local police and fire pension systems. These reforms standardized all of the affected public pension systems by lowering and capping final average salary calculations, reducing annual cost of living adjustments for pensioners, prohibiting ‘double-dipping,’ increasing normal retirement ages to 67 for most public employees and age 60 for state police, fire, and correctional employees. At this time, no changes have been made to local police and fire pension systems.
Voting ‘yes’ on this referendum question means that you urge the State of Illinois to pass legislation that will lessen the future financial responsibility of the local taxpayer to pay for police and firefighter pensions. Voting ‘no’ on this referendum means that you do not want the State of Illinois to pass legislation reducing future police and firefighter pension payments made by the local taxpayer.
Why is the Question on the Ballot?
This question was placed on the ballot by the Naperville City Council after adopting Resolution 10-043.
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