Dolton has a budget, more than eight months after the fiscal year started, and it includes spending cuts that Mayor Tiffany Henyard claims will “bankrupt” the village.
During a Village Board meeting lasting more than three hours, the board began 2024 in much the same way as it finished 2023, with four trustees who have been at odds with mayor complaining they are still being kept in the dark about the true state of village finances.
The board also voted Jan. 2 to approve a tentative property tax levy for taxes that will be collected this year that is unchanged from the prior year, although about $500,000 below what had been proposed. Final approval is expected to come at a later meeting.
Trustee Jason House said he believed the initial spending plan, first discussed last summer, called for shelling out money Dolton doesn’t have, including $6.8 million in grants that Henyard said the village is in line to get.
The village’s fiscal year began May 1 and ends April 30.
House said he and other trustees receive emails from vendors who haven’t been paid for services, even though board members have signed off on checks for them.
“We have bills that are piling up that are way past due,” House said. “You pay your old bills first.”
House, along with Trustees Kiana Belcher, Tammy Brown and Brittney Norwood, held a special meeting Dec. 5 where they approved things such as bills as well as a tax levy for the village, which Henyard vetoed at the Jan. 2 meeting.
Without identifying them by name, Henyard accused the trustees of not helping move Dolton forward, and threatened a purge when trustee elections come up next year.
“You guys just talk and talk about nothing and ain’t producing nothing,” the mayor said. “You all are bench warmers, everybody gotta go.”
At the recent Village Board meeting, Henyard vetoed actions taken at the special meeting, held at a Dolton Park District facility, also attended by Village Clerk Alison Key.
Village administrator Keith Freeman, accompanied by a uniformed Dolton police officer, came into the Dec. 5 meeting after it was underway and left before it was finished. Several Dolton residents also attended.
Henyard did not attend the special meeting nor did Trustees Stanley Brown and Andrew Holmes, who are aligned with the mayor.
“You cannot and should not be having secret squirrel meetings,” Henyard scolded, calling the gathering, that included the village clerk a “fake meeting.”
Trustees’ approval of a property tax levy Dec. 5 didn’t comply with provisions of the state’s Open Meetings Act or state property tax code, the village attorney said Jan. 2.
House and other trustees who are critical of Henyard’s administration say the village is spending beyond its means, and at the time of the Dec. 5 meeting, House said the village’s deficit was approaching $7 million.
Henyard began the recent board meeting with a video highlighting her accomplishments during 2023, including sidewalk replacement, alley paving and a toy giveaway at Christmas. She criticized trustees who she said were overstepping their authority.
“I cannot and will not be controlled,” Henyard said.
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She encouraged cooperation in order to advance the village.
“We gotta do better, we have to do better,” the mayor said.
Before the board’s vote on the budget, House listing several line items in the budget where costs were being reduced or increased.
Overtime for police, who provide a security detail for Henyard, was an area eyed for cuts.
“We need the mayor to stop spending money irresponsibly,” House said.
That drew a rebuke from Henyard, who said the security detail is vital for her safety.
“I’m a single Black woman,” the mayor said, “you don’t put my safety in jeopardy.”
Once the budget was approved by a 4-2 vote, Henyard said trustees “just bankrupt the village of Dolton.”
Trustees also gave preliminary approval to a new tax levy, which calls for tax appropriations of $11.1 million, or nearly flat from the prior year. A levy of nearly $11.7 million had been proposed.