By law, Illinois townships are charged with three basic functions: 1) general assistance for the indigent; 2) the assessment of real property for the basis of local taxation; 3) maintenance of all roads and bridges outside federal, state and other local jurisdiction.
Most Illinois townships elect eight officials: a supervisor, clerk, four trustees, an assessor and a highway commissioner. Five counties-Cook, Madison, Peoria, Sangamon and Will-also elect a tax collector.
The Township Supervisor serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Township. The Supervisor’s duties and responsibilities include serving as Chairman of the Township Board of Trustees, Supervisor of the general assistance program and Treasurer of all town funds including general assistance, insurance funds, retirement funds and road and bridge funds.
Unlike a mayor or village board president, the Supervisor votes on all matters before the Town Board. Generally speaking, other chief executive government officers may vote only to break a tie. In this regard, the Supervisor serves as a Trustee and may make or second motions, participate in all legislative discussion and exercises voting power on all issues before the Board.
The Supervisor maintains sole jurisdiction over the general assistance office and may employ necessary workers without prior approval of the Township Board of Trustees.
Michael has been a Crete Township resident for over 27 years. He has served on the Crete Township Board since 2001 as Trustee (2001-2016) and as Supervisor (2017 - present) and also previously served on the Plan Commission. He currently serves on the Paratransit Coordination Council of Will County which operates the Will Ride Paratransit program in which Crete Township participates. As Trustee, he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee, Technical Services Committee, Youth Committee, Police Protection Commitee and ParaTransit Services. In 2000-2001, he served as Chairman of the Crete Time Capsule Committee which produced a video series and music CD about the Crete area and also collected various historical items and installed two (2) time capsules which are currently located in the Crete Public Library (to be opened in the years 2050 and 2100). From 1987-1990, Michael served as a Trustee in the Village of Riverdale, Illinois where he also served as Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Michael graduated with a B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois University in 1979. He is a CPA and registered securities professional. He founded Liccar CPAs and Liccar Securities LLC in Chicago and is a Director of the Edge Ministries, Inc. which operates the Edge Community Coffee Shop & Roasting Company in Crete and is also the Managing Director of Evil Horse Brewing Company in Crete. He is a Compatriot Member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is a member of the Illinois CPA Society and American Institute of CPAs.
The township clerk is keeper of all township records except for active general assistance cases. The clerk is required to keep accurate records of all township board meetings and maintain records of the board’s executive sessions. (Statute requires these minutes be reviewed every six months.)
During town board meetings the clerk records roll call votes. (Certain questions require roll call votes, such as appointments to fill vacancies, establishing salaries, etc. Other votes can be taken by voice. Secret ballots are never permitted on any issue facing the township board.)
The clerk also serves as the local election authority and is responsible for accepting petitions concerning township elections and/or referendums. In this capacity, the clerk is responsible for publishing or posting certain specific notices, including notices for the highway commissioner.
As ex-officio clerk of the road district, the township clerk maintains all records for the highway commissioner. The clerk must also witness bid openings for both the township and the road district. The clerk must countersign all road district orders for payment prior to audit or approval by the township board. The clerk also delivers all approved claims for payment to the supervisor.
The position of clerk is especially important as it pertains to the maintenance of records. The integrity and accuracy of the clerk is important in any court
Clerical may evolve from the word clerk, but the clerk is not necessarily the township board’s secretary. However, much as a competent secretary is a vital cog in the machinery of a well-oiled office, the township clerk is critical to the operation of township government.
As Highway Commissioner, I am responsible for the maintenance of over 81 miles of roads in the unincorporated areas of the Township, which is currently the largest Township Road System in Will County. Even though the Highway Commissioner position is administrative, I take a hands-on approach and work alongside our crew which enables me to stay in touch with all our residents needs.
Some of the duties that we perform are, road and ditch maintenance, culvert replacements, tree trimming and removal, branch pick-up, shoulder stone maintenance, roadside mowing and clean-up, sign maintenance, asphalt patching, snowplowing and salting. We also maintain most of our equipment in-house as well as building and grounds maintenance. All this is accomplished with a crew that is dedicated and experienced in all duties of the Road District.
The input that we receive from our residents is very important and your comments help us do a better job. We look forward to hearing from you.
Assessor Mary Margaret Tamez
Mary Margaret Tamez was elected Assessor of Crete Township and officially began her term on January 1, 2018. She previously served as Chief Deputy Assessor of Crete Township prior to her running for elected office. She is a graduate of Crete-Monee High School and has been a resident of Crete Township for the last 30 years, spending her youth in University Park, Illinois.
Mary has been employed with the Crete Township Assessor’s Office for the last twelve years and has vast experience in the area, assessing over 11,000 parcels and over 7,000 homes. She is currently an active member of the Illinois Assessors Association, Vice President of the Will County Assessor Association, and Township Officials of Illinois. She previously served as Co-President of the Parent-Teachers Organization (“PTO”) of the Crete Monee Middle School and is a former member of the Crete Elementary PTO as well as the Crete Emergency Services & Disaster Agency (“ESDA”). Further information on Mary can be found on her LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-tamez-6b190411.
The policies enacted by the township board are executed by the supervisor and the clerk. The trustees may not establish policy for either the township assessor or the highway commissioner. Trustees do, however, certify tax levies for the township and road district. For the road district, the amount of the levy is determined by the highway commissioner. In their capacity as legislative officers, trustees adopt the annual town budget and appropriation ordinance, the general assistance budget and the road district bud
There is an elected township tax collector in just five Illinois counties-Cook, Madison, Peoria, Sangamon and Will. Township tax collectors are prohibited in counties with populations less than 150,000.
The township tax collectors are most active in Peoria and Sangamon counties. In Peoria County, township collectors collect the majority of taxes each year prior to September 1. In Sangamon County, township tax collectors collect about 80 percent of tax payments.
Although they are statutorily provided, tax collectors are inactive in Madison, Will and Cook counties.
In counties with populations more than 150,000 but less than 3 million, the office for township tax collector may be abolished by referendum in a general election.
The township board of trustees is the legislative branch of township government. Each single township has four trustees and a supervisor, which comprise the board. Each board member, elected at-large within the township, has one vote on all issues before the township board.
