La Grange Area District May Part Ways With Agency
LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange Highlands School District 106 is looking to end its relationship with a local agency, but it may not be easy. District 106 is among the area school systems that belong to the Lyons Township Treasurer's Office, which handles schools' finances. The member schools include those in Burr Ridge, Western Springs and La Grange. It may be hard for District 106 to leave. Lyons Township High School spent years in litigation trying to depart. In 2021, a judge decided in the high school's favor. But the entities continued to dispute how much the high school was entitled to. They settled in January, with the treasurer's office giving $1.3 million to the school. They also agreed not to badmouth each other. The legal battle began after a scandal in which the then-treasurer, Robert Healy, was convicted in 2015 of stealing $1.5 million from the office.District 106 says it is fine with the services that the office provides, but contends it can save money by handling all financial functions in-house. "We have had nothing but positive experiences with (Treasurer) Ken Getty and the LTTO," Superintendent John Munch said in an interview in his office this week. "We have asked for information, we have gotten what we have asked for. They've always been very accommodating."But he said the district's three-person finance department can absorb the duties that the treasurer's office handles. The district pays about $60,000 a year for the treasurer's office's services. If the district takes on the new duties, its new annual expenses consist of $20,000 for a financial management software license and $2,000 for the treasurer's surety bond, according to a recent memo by Munch to the school board.Under a new state law, any member district can withdraw from a treasurer's office with a two-thirds school board vote, the memo said. (The District 106 board has not voted yet.) The law also lets each participating district appoint a member to the treasurer's office's board. However, the treasurer's office's lawyer interprets the law as not applying to it, according to the memo. If the treasurer's office's interpretation is followed, District 106 would not be able to withdraw or appoint a board member. Getty, the treasurer, did not return messages for comment Thursday.If this dispute goes to the courts, it could get costly for taxpayers. By 2021, the treasurer's office's legal bills in the high school dispute reached $4.1 million.Township treasurer's offices once existed throughout the state. But in 1962, the state Legislature abolished them everywhere but suburban Cook County.The high school called the treasurer's office an antiquated, unnecessary unit of local government that served no useful purpose for the school.In a 2021 interview, Getty said the treasurer's office saved taxpayer dollars by consolidating finance functions. "We are able to get economies of scale and higher rates of return," Getty said at the time.The article La Grange Area District May Part Ways With Agency appeared first on La Grange, IL Patch.
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