Dolton trustees describe fiscal recovery plan, staffing hires and new tenant at Rucker Athletic Facility
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Summary
Village leaders said they are pursuing state-allocated funds, reported an approximately $8 million deficit being addressed, and outlined operational steps including hiring chiefs, repaving streets, leasing the Rucker Athletic Facility to a tenant who will invest in repairs and pay $5,000 monthly, and acquiring the Pope Leo XIV childhood home as a historic site.
Village officials used the community "Tea with the Trustees" meeting in Dolton to summarize operational and fiscal priorities as the board nears the end of the year. Officials said the administration has taken steps to stabilize operations, pursue allocated state funds and reduce outstanding litigation.
The finance chair told attendees the village faces about an $8,000,000 deficit but said staff are actively working to reduce it, and reported the number of outstanding lawsuits has fallen from about 84 earlier in the year to fewer than 37. "We are working diligently to make strides to get it down," she said, and urged residents to attend finance meetings for more detail.
Mayor (unnamed) and trustees listed operational accomplishments: hiring a new police chief and new fire chief, adding leadership in public works, repaving 12 streets this year and filling more than 300 potholes, reopening Village Hall to the public and improving response times.
On the Rucker Athletic Facility, the mayor said the village negotiated a tenant agreement rather than a sale. The tenant has agreed to invest an estimated $150,000–$200,000 to renovate the building, pay $5,000 per month in rent and cover water bills. The mayor framed the arrangement as converting a roughly $90,000 annual operating loss into revenue and said the deal represents an immediate improvement to the village’s bottom line.
The clerk, Allison Key, said the clerk’s office is restarting FOIA tracking with certified FOIA officers in each department and is working on codifying village ordinances for the first time since 1988; the codification work is in an attorney review stage and will be available online after a 60-day review.
Clerk Key also said the mayor appointed her chair of a Historic Preservation Commission focused on the Pope’s house, which the board recently established as a historic site; she said the designation will make the property eligible for state, federal and private funding to support restoration.
Board members closed by encouraging resident participation, promising continued outreach and noting that volunteers are needed to support several projects.
Next steps: officials said the village will pursue the state-allocated funds referenced at the meeting and continue community outreach and codification review; residents with questions were invited to meet trustees one-on-one after the formal meeting.