La Grange Seeks Fix For Struggling Finance Department

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange, which has been criticized for its handling of finances over the last year, is going in a new direction.

Last week, the Village Board hired Naperville-based Lauterbach & Amen to run the village's finance department.

The department has seen turnover since the departure of Lou Cipparrone, who retired in 2023 after three decades with the village.

In mid-2025, Cipparrone's successor, Suzy Mika, resigned, taking a job in another town. The accounting manager left around the same time.

In response, the village hired a staffing firm, MGT, to provide staff to handle the village's finances.

But it's been a struggle. La Grange did not complete its annual audit until nearly a year after the end of its 2024-25 budget year, missing state deadlines.

Unlike previous years, the auditing firm found "significant deficiencies" in internal controls.

At last week's board meeting, Village President Mark Kuchler said the village is hoping for a long-term relationship with Lauterbach.

"We didn't do it to save money," he said. "We did it to make the department more professionalized and to make sure that we're doing everything we should be doing and doing it best in class."

He noted the Village Board was bolstering its presence in financial matters. It will now have two finance liaisons, rather than one. They are Trustee Peterson, a certified public accountant, and Village Clerk Paul Saladino, a former auditor.

Kuchler himself is a CPA, though he works as a lawyer, not as an accountant.

For more than a year, Al Foreman, a La Grange watchdog, has criticized the village's handling of finances.

"While Lauterbach & Amen can handle our mess for less, I must stress one word today, and that's oversight," Foreman said.

Every outsourcing agreement must have strict oversight, he said, with officials asking hard questions, monitoring the work and verifying savings.

"Outsourcing is an effective approach, but ultimately responsibility for financial statements and internal controls remains with the Village Board and staff," Foreman said.

For more than two years, he said, the village has failed to publish monthly financial statements, which village policy requires.

"Waiting for external auditors was a bad plan and signaled a lack of urgency," Foreman said. "Please do not rest on the outsourcing decision. Use it to drive financial awareness to the broadest possible audience."