Elmhurst-Area Agency Explains Unusual Payments

ELMHURST, IL — It's been a mystery why one of the former board members for an Elmhurst-area agency received a $50 travel payment most months for years.

Bensenville Fire District No. 1, which serves residents between Elmhurst and Bensenville, made the payments to longtime trustee George Jefferies, who resigned last year. In fiscal year 2021, the payments totaled $550.

A month ago, the board's president, Paul Guerino, told Patch he had no idea why the payments were made, saying it happened before he took office a couple of years ago. It appears Guerino's and Jefferies' time overlapped by a few months.

Jefferies himself couldn't be reached for comment.

In an interview this week, the fire district's attorney, Pat Bond, said Jefferies was given the money for going to the county clerk's office in Wheaton to deliver tax levy records. Bond said Jefferies also brought documents to Bond's law office in Wheaton, which is near the county clerk.

"He was the trustee who was responsible for it," Bond said.

Delivering tax levy records is probably a once-a-year event, maybe twice. It is unclear how often Jefferies went to the lawyer's office.

The 2021 IRS mileage rate was 56 cents. If Jefferies' mileage payments were based on that rate, he would have made 24 trips to Wheaton in fiscal year 2021.

It's important to keep in mind the district is merely on paper. It has no fire engines or station, let alone firefighters. Its sole function is to send annual checks to two other entities to provide fire service.

Each of the three trustees is paid $1,000 a year. By contrast, members of school and park boards in Illinois are unpaid.

In fiscal year 2021, the district spent 12 percent of its $265,647 budget on overhead, including $16,000 for professional services, mainly legal fees.