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Comptroller will stop sending “offset” payments to Dolton

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Illinois

* Comptroller Susana Mendoza…

Illinois State Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza is immediately suspending all “offset” funds to the Village of Dolton. “Offsets” refers to money collected from state payments our office withholds from people who owe traffic tickets or other money to municipalities such as Dolton.

This is because for about two years now, the administration of Mayor Tiffany Henyard has willfully refused to turn over the annual reports all municipalities are required to file with the Illinois Office of Comptroller, including an annual financial report, a financial audit, and three Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) reports.

“When municipalities around Illinois are having legitimate problems filing their annual reports with us, based on staffing or other issues, we earnestly work with them to get them into compliance,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Dolton is different. The Mayor’s office has refused to communicate with us or address the problem. If Mayor Henyard refuses to follow state law, my office will use the tools at our disposal to safeguard the interests of Dolton’s citizens.”

Our office has been notifying the village of this delinquency over the past two years.

Village Clerk Allison Key emailed our office: “As Village Clerk, I have been unable to reply to FOIAs because the Village Administrator, Keith Freeman, has instructed department heads not to reply to any FOIA request coming from me. Therefore, I am unable to get information requested. My office doesn’t maintain all files for the village. He has illegally removed me as FOIA officer without board of trustees’ knowledge or vote of approval. He has continued to interfere with the FOIA process for the past 2 years.”

Our office advised Clerk Key that she should contact the Attorney General Public Access Counselor who is responsible for FOIA violation investigations. https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/File-A-Complaint/.

According to published reports, Mayor Henyard cannot be located following a series of controversies, allegations of corruption and multiple investigations by local and federal agencies.

Our office’s preference would be to help the remaining members of Dolton’s government to come back into compliance with state statute about annual filing of reports with our office. We would be happy to resume disbursements of fine collections referred to our office but will not do so until they file the overdue reports.

In 2023, our office sent the Village of Dolton $120,000 offset from state payments to residents such as income tax refunds and lottery winnings. These represented unpaid fines owed to the Village of Dolton from these residents such as traffic and parking fines and other judgments. This year the village is on track to receive about $135,000.

State statute requires our office to initiate forced audits of towns that stop complying with laws to file annual reports with our office. We also have the authority to level fines. If Dolton continues failing to file reports, we will initiate forced audits and fines.

Our office can assess fines of approximately $7,000 per year per unfiled report, totaling $78,600 for Dolton as of today. That would be in addition to the roughly $135,000 the Village of Dolton could lose in offset fines our office sends the village on an annual basis if its administration does not resume filing reports.

The village last filed its 2021 reports in 2022. But the 2022 and 2023 reports are unfiled and delinquent.

Our office notified the village today of the immediate suspension of offset funds and that a forced audit and fines will begin soon if the village does not come into compliance with the law.

posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 1:00 pm

Comments

“According to published reports, Mayor Henyard cannot be located….”

Tooooootally normal mayoral behavior….
The FOIA thing though….there should be people getting fired if not arrested over that.

Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 1:36 pm
I am not being sarcastic but I wonder if she is ill or something it makes no sense. What could her agenda possibly be. I would think the AG would be involved. There must be someway for state to take over. It seems like the FBI is taking its time.

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 1:53 pm
Mendoza has demonstrated a talent for squeezing good publicity out of an office that doesn’t really lend itself to that. The Chicago media loves Tiffany Heynard stories, so they’ll eat this one up.

She’s also inserted herself in the Pedro Martinez controversy by defending his rejection of Brandon Johnson’s high interest, short term loan proposal for CPS.

She’s got a long climb back from her disastrous 2019 mayoral campaign, but she’s making progress.

Comment by Roman Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 1:57 pm
“According to published reports, Mayor Henyard cannot be located….”

Perhaps check for her in countries that don’t have extradition treaties with the U.S.

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:02 pm
= According to published reports, Mayor Henyard cannot be located… =

The only report like that I’ve seen is a CBS news story saying, “Henyard hasn’t responded to requests for comment, and wasn’t at Dolton Village Hall on Friday.” https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/dolton-mayor-tiffany-henyard-financial-probe-lori-lightfoot/

I’m not sure that translates to “cannot be located” or “nowhere to be found”.

Comment by JoanP Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:04 pm
It’s about time. Hopefully her office can initiate a complaint process so it doesn’t take three years to take such action to compel compliance from a public body. The Comptroller halts payments to contractors performing work for state agencies if they’ve been alerted of pending IDOL investigations. This is a great move by Comptroller Mendoza to help restore public trust and dissuade future bad actors from emulating Henyard’s brazen and illegal style of governing. Dolton and Thornton Township residents believe the Governor and AG have dragged their feet on holding Henyard’s administrations accountable due to her political connections within the Democratic Party. I’m happy to see the state do something in response to the absurdity stemming from Henyard’s administration. Waiting for the Feds to clean house isn’t enough.

It’s also time to revisit prohibiting elected officials to hold more than one elected position. Super-Mayor Henyard has changed history with regard to how much financial damage an elected official can cause in a short period of time. Voters also need a manner to recall elected officials. Dolton residents voted to remove her office. This could have saved them millions of dollars if the court didn’t overturn the will of the voters.

Comment by estubborn Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:22 pm
Everytime Mendoza makes a smart political play, the staffers for the other Dem’s with ambitions start trashing her here. Its slight, its snarky, it jealousy. Susana is a shrewd political operator, and has lots of upside. It’s the reason she got more votes than anyone else in the last election.

Comment by Joe Biden Playing Golf Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:27 pm
Illinois is sadly one of the few states where a Politician this corrupt and inept could stay in office as long as she has.

Comment by Don't lose Sight Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:32 pm
Tif on the lam?

Comment by Dotnonymous x Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:41 pm
Good on Suzanna

To the whole Dolton situation. Henyard is a stark example, just like Trump, why the rule of law is not enough to run democracy. You need people who has respect for norms and institutions.

Comment by Peoples Republic of Oak Park Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:41 pm
- Illinois is sadly one of the few states where a Politician this corrupt and inept could stay in office as long as she has. -

It’s 2 years into her first term, what are you talking about? She’s been under a spotlight the entire time.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:41 pm
Did someone who may have been raiding the piggy bank go on the lam?

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 2:56 pm
Two years of known grift and she still has a job. Huh.

Comment by Politix Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:03 pm
estubborn, you have a source for this?

Dolton and Thornton Township residents believe the Governor and AG have dragged their feet on holding Henyard’s administrations accountable due to her political connections within the Democratic Party.

I’ve seen no evidence of this.

Comment by Original Rambler Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:24 pm
== I am not being sarcastic but I wonder if she is ill or something==

If she’s truly off the radar, I would assume she’s somewhere closer to Mexico or South America than she is to a doctor’s office.

== What could her agenda possibly be. ==

Probably “not going to prison”

Comment by fs Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:25 pm
===Illinois is sadly one of the few states where a Politician this corrupt and inept could stay in office as long as she has.===

Nah, the rest are just getting away with it silently. We publicize our bad actors and (eventually) deal with them.

Comment by thechampaignlife Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:29 pm
If only Mayor Tiffany Henyard were a student of history. Former Mayor Betty Loren-Maltese received a sentence of 8 years for stealing $12 million from the town of Cicero’s health fund while she was mayor in Cicero.
Wonder what will await Mayor Tiffany Henyard for her shenanigans in Dolton?

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:39 pm
===and she still has a job===

She’s not an employee, she’s an elected official.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:43 pm
==== Wonder what will await Mayor Tiffany Henyard for her shenanigans in Dolton?

Watch her get an immunity deal…

Comment by estubborn Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 3:55 pm
====estubborn, you have a source for this?

Residents held a press conference 07/30/24 in Dolton calling for state officials to intervene. See the Fox 32 video below. Paul Robertz who called for Gov. Pritzker to intervene published an op-ed of his full remarks in the Lansing Journal, also below. Activists in Thornton Township as well as advocate Jedidiah Brown have been sharing the same sentiment for a few months.

https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1493010

https://thelansingjournal.com/2024/08/10/local-voices-an-open-letter-to-governor-pritzker-about-tiffany-henyard/

Comment by estubborn Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 4:02 pm
===Watch her get an immunity deal===

You might wanna take a nap. The feds don’t generally give immunity to targets.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 4:07 pm
10 years ago … JBT’s IOC staff were “escorted” into Harvey City Hall by Cook County Sheriff’s deputies. Harvey was years behind in filing audits & fiscal reports. Then-Mayor Eric Kellogg said audits were “too expensive” … . Time for a Redux in Dolton and Thorton Township?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2014/03/21/sheriffs-deputies-auditors-descend-on-harveys-city-hall/

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 4:28 pm
Ok I get it that some agencies don’t have the money to get a certified audit, AFR or Tiff report filed. But can someone on here explain why Dan Prost and Jeannie Ives favorite Mayor Keith Pekau from Orland Park hasn’t filed any financial reports in two years also. Why does he get a free pass from being scrutinized by the media? What’s going on In Orland Park Also?

Comment by Long Time Independent Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 4:38 pm
=Ok I get it that some agencies don’t have the money to get a certified audit, AFR or Tiff report filed.=

They are not that expensive. Every school district gets one every year.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Aug 15, 24 @ 5:48 pm