to fall from the annual pay for commissioners at the time: $27,500. The proposal passed the Senate, but stalled in the House rules committee. A separate bill, introduced in the House in February 2018, proposed to consolidate the agencies without creating a separate board. A non-binding countywide referendum was held on the matter in March of that year, with 56% of voters supporting consolidation. During the same election, the election commission faced technical issues that caused significant delays in reporting the results, accelerating calls for the merger to take place. In May 2018, the General Assembly passed legislation that would allow the county board to finalize the merger without creating a separate board. In January 2019, the county board formally dissolved the election commission, despite a request from County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to delay the merger until May. Cronin has also suggested eliminating the county recorder's office and consolidating it with another county office or department. As of 2020, Cronin's efforts to consolidate agencies in DuPage, including the election commission, were expected to save $145 million over a 20-year period. Second term Cronin ran for re-election in November 2014. He was challenged by Democratic candidate Robert Peickert, a former small business owner and chairman of the DuPage County Democratic Party. During the campaign, after initial efforts to impose stormwater fees garnered strongly negative public feedback, Cronin proposed setting fees based on how much water a given property displaces into public waterways, while Peickert proposed increasing sales tax revenues to pay for flood mitigation. Peickert also called for more engineering plans and capabilities to support stormwater projects, and criticized Cronin and other officials for not doing enough, but Cronin pointed to a lack of funding as a major constraint. Peickert touted his availability to work full-time as board chairman, in contrast to Cronin, an attorney in addition to his county office. Cronin argued that the connections he formed while a state legislator help him secure funding for the county's stormwater projects. Ultimately, Cronin won with 64 percent of the vote. In April 2016, the county's water commission released a tentative budget that reduced operating expenses for the fifth consecutive year, and lowered water rates for the second consecutive year. By June of that year, county officials were able to abolish the 0.25 percent sales tax originally approved in 1985 to fund the water commission, allowing the sales tax on general merchandise