DuPage County ACT Initiative

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

What if you could redesign local government to take advantage of technology, increase transparency, and reduce waste and redundancy? Nowhere is that needed more than in Illinois where there are more units of local government than any other state in the nation…almost 7,000, with 400 taxing districts in DuPage County alone. Just 20 miles west of Chicago, DuPage is Illinois’ second-largest county, home to more than 900,000 residents, offering a suburban/urban economic mix featuring 40,000 businesses and 130 corporate headquarters. County leaders envisioned a 21st century government which serves citizens more efficiently and lowers the tax burden. Upon taking office in December 2010, DuPage County’s Chairman and Board moved to impose professional accounting and ethics standards, encouraged economies of scale and explored shared services and consolidation on all levels of county and local government. DuPage County’s ACT Initiative (Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency) brings a new level of scrutiny to these local governmental units, encouraging them to squeeze value out of each taxpayer dollar spent and increase public confidence in county and local government. The incremental consolidations, shared service savings and reductions will save taxpayers an estimated $80 million. DuPage County’s ACT Initiative provides a national blueprint for others who want to explore a new model for governing based on service, efficiency and accountability.