Harvey’s request for state financial relief under Illinois’ Financially Distressed City Law was rejected in February, according to a letter sent by the Illinois Department of Revenue to the city’s lawyers.
Acting Mayor Shirley Drewenski said in a statement she was not made aware of the letter, sent Feb. 19 to the city, until it was shared online.
“During the leadership transition following the passing of Mayor Clark, the February 19 determination did not move through the City’s standard communication channels,” Drewenski said. “That has been addressed, and a clear standard is in place. I operate with transparency, residents should hear information that impacts their city directly from their mayor, not on Facebook.”
The letter was shared Wednesday on Facebook in a group called Exposing Corruption in Harvey, and was confirmed as legitimate by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark died Jan. 30. Drewenski was elected as acting mayor by the City Council on Feb. 23, though was serving as mayor pro tempore when the letter was sent.
The Financially Distressed City Law allows home-rule municipalities in the top 5% of tax rates and the bottom 5% of tax income per capita to apply for fiscal relief via a state takeover of finances. The law was invoked once before, in East St. Louis in 1990.
Harvey’s City Council voted unanimously to petition the state for relief under the law at a special meeting in October 2025. Clark accompanied the declaration with a partial shutdown of city services and sweeping layoffs
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.The Department of Revenue determined that while Harvey meets the requirement of being in the top 5% of tax rates, it is not in the bottom 5% for tax yield per capita, according to the letter.
The department made its determination using tax numbers from 2022, which is the most recent year for which complete data is available, the letter states. Based on that data, Harvey is in the bottom 77% of home-rule municipalities for tax yield per capita, far from the 5% it would need, the letter said.
Law firm Ancel Glink, which represents Harvey and was the recipient of the letter, said in a statement the city is disputing the finding on the basis the determination was based on taxes levied, rather than taxes collected.
Harvey has one of the lowest property tax collection rates in the county. A study of 2023 property tax collection rates by the Cook County treasurer’s office found Harvey’s collection rates were the third lowest in the county, at 58%, representing more than $24 million in unpaid taxes for that year.
“When one looks at the dollar amount we would have if people actually paid their property taxes (which is what the IDOR looked at), it paints quite a different picture than the reality. We believe the calculation should be based on the actual dollars received by Harvey — which would allow Harvey to qualify,” the city’s attorneys said.
Clark was made aware in December the Department of Revenue would likely reject the application on this basis, the law firm said. No public announcement was made at that time either, and Harvey in fact held no City Council meetings in December.
“To claim that Harvey is not transparent about this is ridiculous. We do not routinely report on every letter, every phone call, every court status date or every e-mail we receive,” the city’s attorneys said.
Drewenski said in her statement she is working to get legislation that would bring Harvey financial relief.
“I’m working very closely with our partners in Springfield — every day — to secure the resources and advance the legislation needed to move this city out of financially distressed status,” Drewenski said in the statement.
A bill proposed in the state legislature last year by Rep. William Davis, House Bill 4024, would appropriate $30 million for Harvey to pay its operational expenses. The bill was referred to an appropriations committee in February.
Clark gave a lengthy presentation at the October meeting where the application for financially distressed status was approved, highlighting scandals of the previous administration under former Mayor Eric Kellogg, which he said had placed the city in an unsalvageable amount of debt.
“We’ve been riding on heat for quite some time, and you know how you get when you’re riding on heat, and you’re trying to figure out, OK, am I finally on fumes? Or when is the car going to just stop?” Clark said at the meeting.
Clark was accused of lacking transparency regarding the city’s distressed finances, with some critics calling for his resignation. Some of the same accusations have been leveled at Drewenski since she became acting mayor.
The city announced Wednesday it updated City Hall’s hours back to the standard 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Under Clark’s partial city shutdown, hours were reduced to 9 a.m. to noon.