La Grange Official Demands Audit Of Township Agency

LA GRANGE, IL — A La Grange village trustee on Monday said taxpayers are bearing the brunt of litigation between Lyons Township High School and the Lyons Township Treasurer's Office.

"It's time to stop frivolously spending taxpayers' money as has been case with this suit that has spanned the past eight years," Trustee Michael Kotynek said at a Village Board meeting.

Last month, a state judge ruled the high school can part ways with the treasurer's office. But the office has yet to announce whether it would appeal the decision.

In 2012 and 2013, the treasurer's office board declined to conduct forensic audits after its then-treasurer, Robert Healy, stole $1.5 million in school money. In 2015, he was sentenced to nine years.

At the Village Board meeting, Kotynek requested the public contact the treasurer's office board members and the treasurer, Ken Getty, asking them not to appeal the decision. He said he was asking for the treasurer's office to be audited annually with published results, which he said would be money well spent.

"Today, there are questions about unallocated investment income," Kotynek said.

He gave no other information on what he meant about the income.

Kotynek urged House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, to push for school districts in Cook County to be allowed to separate from their township treasurer's offices. Kotynek questioned why the requirement to use treasurer's office services only applies to Cook County school districts.

"To Rep. Durkin, I ask, what is holding this up?" Kotynek said. "It's time for greater governance and transparency from (the township treasurer). It's time to do the right thing."

In 1999, the high school and the treasurer's office agreed the school would no longer have to pay for services it did not access from the office.

But in 2013, in the wake of the embezzlement, the treasurer's office told the high school it would no longer recognize the 1999 agreement. That's when the litigation began.

The treasurer's office, which serves a dozen districts, has spent $4.1 million in the legal battle. The high school said it covered its costs through its insurance carrier.

In a recent interview, Treasurer Getty said the treasurer's office has benefitted taxpayers by centralizing local districts' finance functions into one office.

"We are able to get economies of scale and higher rates of return," Getty said.

Durkin's and Getty's offices couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

The contact information for the treasurer's office's board members can be found on the agency's website.