Forensic Accountant to Audit County Board Pay

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis announced he's hiring a Palos Heights-based firm.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis is hiring a Palos Heights-based forensic accountant to review county board members’ meeting pay since December 2008. Dennis Czurylo and his firm will review meeting minutes, board rules and related state statutes, payroll information and pay vouchers, which are documents board members submit requesting pay for individual meetings. Weis discussed the audit with county board members Tuesday morning and announced he would seek the special review without a board vote. Prosecutors commonly rely on forensic audits for cases involving allegations of financial crimes, but generally an outside entity has paid for and completed the audit before prosecutors are involved, Weis said. “This is a board matter,” …

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Todd Milliron

9:03 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012

Travis, I'm sure the auditor will come up with some recommendations that will need to be considered and implemented. When I first ran for KCB in the early primary of 2008, I did my own review at that time, mainly regarding mileage submitted by KCB members in 2007. The board members I had mileage questions about were asked about my concerns and I did receive answers that were acceptable …   more ›

Weis Expected to Suggest Auditor for Kendall County Board Pay Review

State's Attorney Eric Weis could name someone to review all board members' meeting pay on Tuesday.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis plans to suggest an individual on Tuesday to audit county board members’ meeting pay over the past three years. His suggestion will include an approximate cost, although his original estimate was between $5,000 and $10,000, Weis said at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday. The county board’s Finance Committee, which also met Thursday, supported spending county money on the audit. The County Board's next meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the county office building. County board members have been squabbling for weeks over which meetings their colleagues could claim for an $85 per diem – and whether County Board member Dan Koukol purposefully submitted claims for meetings not covered…

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Koukol Pay Case Not Closed for State's Attorney

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis still plans to present the county board with information about a forensic auditor.

Kendall County Board Chair Weighs in on Koukol Meeting Pay

Chairman John Purcell said independent audit not needed.

Kendall County Board member Dan Koukol has agreed to credit the county for three meeting payments - and Chairman John Purcell thinks that should be the final word on the matter. Purcell reviewed Koukol's meeting pay vouchers over the past year and found that Koukol, of Oswego, was improperly paid an $85 per diem three times over the past year. County board members request meeting payments by submitting vouchers, usually once a month, so Koukol is going to attend three meetings without requesting the associated $85 pay, Purcell said. Purcell's review sharply contrasts with Finance Committee Chairman Anne Vickery's review, which found Koukol was improperly paid for more than 50 meetings since taking office in December 2010. Purcell started …

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sarah b.w.t.

4:21 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012

Completely agree.   more ›

Milliron Requests County Meeting Pay Investigation

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said he's reviewing the information recent County Board candidate Todd Milliron gave him about a county board member's pay.

Former Kendall County Board candidate Todd Milliron is requesting an outside police agency investigate board member Dan Koukol’s alleged meeting overpayments. Milliron presented county board Finance Committee Chair Anne Vickery’s findings on Koukol’s pay to State’s Attorney Eric Weis last week and urged Weis to forward the matter to the Illinois State Police or another agency, as Weis’ office represents the county. Vickery has said Koukol improperly received the $85 daily meeting pay for about 50 meetings since he took office in December 2010. Weis said he had received Milliron’s complaint but was unsure how long it would take him or his staff to review it. Koukol, who had not read the complaint, declined to comment on it Monday morning. “…

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County Increases Per Diem Meeting Pay

County board members' daily pay for attending meetings will go up $5 in 2016.

Kendall County Board members voted to eliminate special stipends for two committee leaders Tuesday but gave future office-holders a small raise. The board members voted, 5-3, to increase the $85 per diem to $90 in December 2016 and to $95 in December 2020. Per diem is the pay county board members receive for each day they attend county board meetings, county board committee meetings, or meetings of organizations to which they have been appointed. Per diem pay – which county board members receive on top of health benefits, a $200 monthly salary and mileage reimbursement – has come under scrutiny lately. Finance Committee Chair Anne Vickery is reviewing her colleagues’ pay vouchers from December 2010 through February 2012 after alleging a …

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Jillian Duchnowski

11:05 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Dan, I was wondering the same thing - as far as the disparate cost. I'll look into it. I imagine it has to do with which plan the individuals involved chose (IE, family plans are more expensive than single plans) and the difference in what the government entities offer (maybe the county just has cheaper plans for its employees). I'd agree that it's not as concise as the chart above, but we did …   more ›

Kendall County Finance Committee Tackles Meeting Pay

Committee Chair Anne Vickery alleges board member Dan Koukol was improperly paid for 49 meetings over 16 months; she hasn't finished checking other board members' vouchers.

After spending about 25 hours reviewing fellow Kendall County Board member Dan Koukol’s meeting pay and meeting minutes, county Finance Committee Chair Anne Vickery believes he was overpaid $4,165. Vickery plans to meet with Koukol and the county’s auditor about recovering pay for 49 meetings. Koukol, who chairs the county’s Economic Development Committee, maintains that he had board Chairman John Purcell’s permission to receive payment for attending several economic development–related meetings. Vickery, who did not receive a Republican nomination for re-election in the March 20 primary, declined to release details on the 49 meetings, but said they included meetings for county committees of which Koukol was not a member. Their exchange …

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Kendall County Board Pay Scrutinized

County Board member Anne Vickery questions payments associated with fellow board member Dan Koukol attending economic development functions.

Kendall County Finance Committee Chair Anne Vickery plans to review county board members’ pay monthly after tallying what she says were improper payments to a political opponent. “I think there’s going to be some changes before the next board takes office, and there are going to be some changes that are going to benefit the taxpayers,” Vickery said. Vickery said County Board member Dan Koukol requested – and received in error – payment for about 30 meetings since he took office in December 2010. Koukol, chair of the county’s Economic Development Committee, said he received permission to attend and receive payment for economic development organization meetings from County Board Chairman John Purcell. County board members receive a $200 …

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Todd Milliron

1:03 pm on Saturday, April 21, 2012

The KCB Economic Development Committee is scheduled to only meet officially once a month, please do the math, which would be 12 “authorized” EDC meetings a year. Mr. Koukol can legitimately claim these 12 EDC committee meetings, which again were authorized by the full Kendall County Board and by a majority vote. Again it does not matter whether Mr. Koukol is the Chairman or not. All committee …   more ›

Court Records Cast Further Doubt on Petrella's Residency

A process server noted County Board member Suzanne Petrella's Yorkville home appeared "maintained and unoccupied" in March, well before she said she started moving in October. Petrella says she was preparing for and recovering from surgery in March.

A process server’s conclusion that County Board Member Suzanne Petrella’s home was unoccupied in March has strengthened some political opponents’ doubts about her residency and her role in the county board’s redistricting process. Petrella, who last week was reappointed to her District 1 seat after being removed over her residency, said she was living at her long-time Yorkville home in March while she had surgery that required hospitalization for three or four days. She also sometimes stayed at her boyfriend’s home at 1394 Route 31, Oswego. Court records show Robert B. Holst, of United Processing Inc., unsuccessfully tried to deliver foreclosure paperwork to Petrella at 14 Maple St. in Yorkville eight times over two weeks in March. He …

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Todd Milliron

10:45 am on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Mr. Ellis, A caring citizen expects their elected officials to do the right thing, follow the law, be forthright, not self-serving. Checking more than one news source allows caring citizens to obtain more than one reporter's perspective, at times picking up important additional information left out in the local paper. You are entitled to your opinion about the hoo-hah over nothing, but 3 KCB …   more ›

Petrella Appointed to District 1 County Board Seat

County Board members voted, 5-3, Tuesday to appoint Suzanne Petrella to the seat she vacated in December over a temporary residency issue.

County Board member Suzanne Petrella is a resident of District 1 again—and a county board member for that district. The county board affirmed her appointment to that seat, 5-3, Tuesday after a 20-minute discussion about whether she was living in the district she was elected to represent. The board declared her seat vacant Dec. 20 after she filed nominating petitions seeking re-election that listed an address in District 2. All 10 county board seats—five seats for each district—are up for election this year. Petrella listed 1394 Route 31, Oswego, which is not in District 1, on her candidate petition seeking re-election. That address will be in District 1 when the redistricting changes associated with the 2010 census go into effect in …

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