Illinois Comptroller says embroiled Village of Dolton is refusing legally-required audit
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) -- New financial problems have surfaced in south suburban Dolton—having to do with taxpayer money and the village's failure to let people know where it is being spent.
According to the State of Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard's administration not only refuses to get an audit done, but also won't even communicate with the state agency tasked with the job of watching over government spending.
The office in question is that of Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza—and Dolton is now on that office's radar.
"There are obvious red flags that your station other stations have covered," said Comptroller's office spokesman Abdon Pallasch. "I think anyone who's been paying attention sees that there are some serious problems in Dolton."
When CBS News Chicago sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Springfield requesting Dolton's financial records, the Office of the Comptroller replied back saying it "has not received audits or financial reports from the Village of Dolton for fiscal years 2022 and 2023."
That was a year after Mayor Henyard was sworn in. Over two fiscal years, no one has examined the taxa dollars coming and going.
"If they continue failing to file the documents, they will then commence the forced audit process, where we send in folks to look over the books," Pallasch said, "and if that still does not work, then they will be subject to fines."
But for now, the state is cutting off Dolton's offset payments—funds Illinois deducts from state payments going out to people, such as income tax refunds or lottery payouts. For the Village of Dolton, that is about $135,000.
Dolton is not the only municipality behind on providing an audit report—yet CBS News Chicago is told it is the only one in the state that flat-out refuses to talk to the comptroller.
"Not in our administration has it ever come to this point," Pallasch said.
David Gonzalez is the mayor of another south suburb, Chicago Heights, but he is also a certified public accountant who does over 75 municipal audits statewide annually.
"The audit will tell the truth, because it is done by an independent," he said. "They're not involved in the politics."
Gonzalez said an audit is a clear picture of the books.
"Because any mayor can go out there and say: 'Look, my finances are great. We're doing great, you know, that we stopped the deficit.' Well, that's just a lot of talk," he said. "But the independent audit is the proof of what really is happening at a town or a village."
It is worth emphasizing that the audits in question are required by law.
A source close to the Dolton investigation has criticized the Illinois Comptroller's office, saying it failed to answer questions early on about the village's audits—and adding there has been no proof provided that the state made an effort to address the financial problem before now.
Meanwhile in a joint statement, the Dolton village trustees also said this development is another reason they insisted former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot dig into the records. She revealed the village has a $3.6 million deficit.