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Orland Park withholds Finance and TIF audits and brings State censure
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza slaps the wrist of Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau as TIFs, Taxes, and Audits continue to plague the Southwest suburban village, but is it enough?
By Ray Hanania
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza suspended the Village of Orland Park from the Local Debt Recovery Program, which helps governments collect outstanding debt due to them.
Mendoza, who has been slow to respond to Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau’s financial delinquency, stopped short of imposing the most severe punishment, withholding payment of sales tax revenues to the Village.
But, Mendoza, whose policies I normally enthusiastically support, also gave Pekau one week until Oct. 17 to explain why her office should not step in and conduct a forced audit, an audit the state does itself at village expense.
Although it is welcome news that the State has finally taken notice of Orland Park’s growing financial problems and excessive spending, it’s tragic it has ignored Orland’s financial problems for far too long.
In contrast, Mendoza did not hesitate to impose tougher sanctions on the Village of Dolton and its Mayor Tiffany Henyard for also failing to file two annual financial audits.
Orland Park is a predominantly White community of more than 58,000 residents with a strong financial base and a median household income of $95,000. Dolton, in contrast, is a predominantly Black community of only 21,300 residents with a weak financial base and a near-poverty median household income of only $54,700.
I guess the issue is that Orland Park has a larger voter base with a higher voter turnout and is home to many residents who hold important positions with the region’s powerful unions.
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CLICK THIS LINK TO READ THE CORRESPONDENT BETWEEN STATE COMPTROLLER SUSANA MENDOZA AND ORLAND PARK
Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall reporter who has lived in Orland Park since 1986. He writes for many suburban newspapers including The Regional News. For more information on this and other topics visit his website at hanania.com, to get information on subscribing to his columns and video podcasts below. email him at [email protected].
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