The Illinois Constitution automatically grants home rule status to municipalities that reach a population threshold of 25,000. Non-home rule communities are granted limited authority compared to home rules even though they must address similar issues and challenges.
Caucus Position
The Mayors Caucus joins with the Illinois Municipal League to call for a reduction in the population threshold for home rule status to 5,000. As the IML has pointed out, this would provide an additional 173 municipalities in Illinois with additional tools they do not presently possess to address local issues.