Home Rule and YOU! 
June 16, 2021 Meeting Summary

The League of Women Voters of Roselle/Bloomingdale hosted a Drinks & Dialog event for the public at Wolfden Brewing in Bloomingdale on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, to discuss Home Rule which allows a municipality to address certain issues as they arise without needing approval from the State legislature.

A Home Rule Ordinance can be crafted to address the specific needs of the municipality based upon a localized assessment and community-wide input. With Home Rule, Village Boards can enhance local taxes, create intergovernmental agreements, and rental inspection regulations without having to ask voters for approval in a referendum.

Home Rule status is not automatically granted to every municipality in Illinois.  Article VII of the Illinois Constitution adopted in 1970 gives smaller municipalities two ways for establishing Home Rule. The first way is to have a population of more than 25,000 people and the second is to have a successful referendum to become a Home Rule municipality.

Bloomingdale currently has Home Rule, Itasca voters considered Home Rule but did not approve it, and the Roselle Village Board has been considering placing Home Rule on the ballot for the past couple of years. Since Roselle's population is just over 22,000, Roselle would have to pass a referendum to adopt home rule. Home Rule status for Roselle took on greater importance recently following an Airbnb incident that resulted in violence and a homicide.

The League does not have a position on adopting Home Rule for Roselle but we plan to conduct a grass roots study of this option in the coming year. We will need League members and members of the community to work on our study.

For more information about the League’s events and monthly meetings, please contact Roberta Borrino at (630) 283-2894. This League event was free and open to the public.