SAUK VILLAGE, Ill. (CBS) — Angry outbursts broke out during a public meeting in Sauk Village in the south suburb Tensions are running high Tuesday evening as trustees discuss nearly $100,000 in missing funds.
Some administrators are calling for an internal audit to get to the bottom of where taxpayers are currently located. But some residents disagree with the accountant some village officials have in mind; he says his history with the village amounts to a conflict of interest.
Anthony Finch has filed suit against the village and Mayor Derrick Burgess due to unlawful termination. Now four administrators want to bring Finch back to the village, but this time they work as auditors.
“Why are we only getting it now, when we are already three or four years behind on our audits?” said a woman. “Why are we only getting it now?”
The trustees claim that Finch is the only person who can find the missing tax money.
“Do you know why we’re bringing in Mr. Finch, Mayor? Because he can call you to account; because we will hold you all accountable,” Trustee Aretha Burns told Mayor Burgess. “That’s why we’re bringing Mr. Finch back in.”
Some trustees say Mayor Burgess doesn’t share all the spending reports with them, and he hires without proper board approval. The mayor attributes this all to politics.
‘It’s election time, folks. The same people saying this are running for office — one is running for mayor,” Burgess said. When Burns fired back, Burges added: “But you sit here and try to tell and lie to people about certain things that don’t happen in the village. I won’t answer you.’
The board has approved the hiring of an accountant. The mayor will likely veto that vote at the next meeting.
But someone will have to go through the books in South Village, because Tuesday night the Illinois State Comptroller sent a letter to the village telling them they need to do audits dating back to 2020.
Jermont Terry
