Illinois Sunshine Award winners
Illinois is known for its culture of government corruption, fiscal mismanagement and cronyism. That reputation is backed up by hard statistics that say Illinois is the third most corrupt state in the country and the Chicago region is the most corrupt area in the country. Illinois’ citizens deserve better. Illinois’ government culture on the state...
Illinois is known for its culture of government corruption, fiscal mismanagement and cronyism. That reputation is backed up by hard statistics that say Illinois is the third most corrupt state in the country and the Chicago region is the most corrupt area in the country.
Illinois’ citizens deserve better. Illinois’ government culture on the state and local level needs to change. Instead of being a state known for its corruption, the people of Illinois deserve government that is open, accessible and transparent with their tax dollars.
Some local governments in Illinois are embracing this culture change by striving to meet higher standards for online transparency and government openness, much higher than what state law requires. These taxing bodies from all across the state are adopting recommendations from the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist.
The Illinois Policy Institute highlights these local governments for their outstanding online transparency performance with our Sunshine Award.
These governments:
- Make elected officials and senior administrators available for the public to contact
- Account for how taxpayer dollars are being spent by opening finances to the public
- Use proactive online transparency to prevent and expose government corruption
- Encourage citizens to take an active, educated role in the local government decision-making process
To earn a Sunshine Award, a local government must score an 80 percent or above on the Local Transparency Project’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist. Full information on how we score local government websites can be found here.
Only 78 taxing bodies out of the nearly 7,000, in Illinois have won the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award. They are listed below.
Illinois Sunshine Award winners
| Local Government Agency | Entity Type | Last graded | Score |
| Hanover Township | Township | 1/16/13 | 100% |
| Kane County | County | 5/9/13 | 100% |
| Village of Lombard | Municipality | 3/19/14 | 100% |
| Village of Orland Park | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 100% |
| City of Evanston | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 100% |
| Village of Skokie | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 100% |
| Village of Wilmette | Municipality | 9/29/14 | 100% |
| Village of Bolingbrook | Municipality | 3/30/15 | 100% |
| City of Rolling Meadows | Municipality | 11/5/15 | 100% |
| Wheatland Township | Township | 1/15/16 | 100% |
| City of Bloomington | Municipality | 5/26/15 | 100% |
| Hinsdale School District #86 | Township | 1/10/17 | 99% |
| City of Elgin | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 98.70% |
| Village of Huntley | Municipality | 5/22/13 | 98.30% |
| Village of Bensenville | Municipality | 3/15/13 | 98% |
| Village of Lake Zurich | Municipality | 5/26/16 | 96.80% |
| City of Park Ridge | Municipality | 3/25/15 | 94.80% |
| City of Naperville | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 94.30% |
| Community High School District #94 | School District | 2/21/13 | 93.80% |
| Hoffman Estates Park District | Park District | 11/26/13 | 93.40% |
| City of Countryside | Municipality | 3/5/14 | 93.10% |
| Orland Fire Protection District | Fire District | 5/17/12 | 93% |
| Village of LaGrange | Municipality | 1/14/15 | 92.80% |
| Community School District #15 | School District | 4/1/14 | 92.50% |
| Village of Glencoe | Municipality | 2/9/11 | 92.50% |
| City of Wheaton | Municipality | 3/19/14 | 92.30% |
| City of Peoria | Municipality | 12/20/13 | 92.20% |
| Township of Orland | Township | 5/17/12 | 92.10% |
| Village of Tinley Park | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 91.90% |
| Coal City Community Unit School District #1 | School district | 10/21/15 | 91.60% |
| Village of Villa Park | Municipality | 10/31/13 | 91.40% |
| DuPage County | County | 5/9/13 | 90.80% |
| Village of Bartlett | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 90.60% |
| Elmhurst Community School District #205 | School District | 6/20/12 | 90.60% |
| Evanston Public Library | Library | 9/2/15 | 90.40% |
| Lake County | County | 7/18/13 | 90% |
| School District #54 | School District | 7/28/10 | 90% |
| Naperville Park District | Park District | 8/15/13 | 90% |
| Village of Carpentersville | Municipality | 3/19/13 | 89.90% |
| Village of Glenview | Municipality | 3/19/14 | 89.50% |
| Village of Palatine | Municipality | 2/26/14 | 89.30% |
| City of Carbondale | Municipality | 8/1/14 | 88.90% |
| City of DeKalb | Municipality | 3/19/14 | 88.80% |
| Sycamore School District #427 | School District | 5/8/14 | 88.50% |
| Village of Homer Glen | Municipality | 5/21/12 | 88.20% |
| Village of Schaumburg | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 88.20% |
| Orland School District #135 | School District | 5/17/12 | 88% |
| Bloomington Public School District #87 | School District | 9/28/11 | 87.50% |
| McLean County School District Unit #5 | School District | 9/28/11 | 87.50% |
| Evanston-Skokie District #65 | School District | 6/15/11 | 87% |
| Village of Willowbrook | Municipality | 4/8/11 | 86.80% |
| Consolidated High School District #230 | School District | 5/17/12 | 86.30% |
| Village of Oak Lawn | Municipality | 1/23/14 | 86.10% |
| City of Elmhurst | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 86% |
| Village of Yorkville | Municipality | 9/21/12 | 84.90% |
| City of Belleville | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 84.80% |
| Village of Algonquin | Municipality | 8/18/14 | 84.70% |
| Village of Montgomery | Municipality | 1/28/15 | 84.10% |
| Rock Island County | County | 5/9/13 | 83.70% |
| Glen Ellyn Park District | Park District | 11/6/13 | 83.60% |
| Village of Mundelein | Municipality | 7/3/14 | 82.90% |
| Village of Arlington Heights | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 82.80% |
| School District #211 | School District | 7/28/10 | 82.60% |
| DeKalb County | County | 4/1/14 | 82% |
| Oakton Community College | School District | 6/15/11 | 82% |
| Village of Downers Grove | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 81.90% |
| Dupage High School District #88 | School District | 6/20/12 | 81.70% |
| Madison County | County | 5/9/13 | 81.60% |
| Champaign Community School District #4 | School District | 2/18/15 | 81.50% |
| Village of Hinsdale | Municipality | 2/10/11 | 81.20% |
| Village of Buffalo Grove | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 81% |
| Village of Hanover Park | Municipality | 7/17/13 | 81% |
| Village of Plainfield | Municipality | 3/15/14 | 80.80% |
| Village of Mount Prospect | Municipality | 11/8/13 | 80.40% |
| Village of Addison | Municipality | 8/18/14 | 80.20% |
| Downers Grove Park District | Park District | 2/10/11 | 80% |
The Illinois Policy Institute is no longer performing transparency audits.