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Residents raise accounting and transparency concerns at La Grange budget hearing
Summary
At a Village of La Grange public hearing on the proposed FY 2026'27 budget, residents urged clearer presentation of fund groupings and grant contingencies, questioned payroll line items and meeting recording practices, and asked staff to footnote contingent revenues before final adoption.
The Village of La Grange opened a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026'27 operating and capital improvement budget and heard detailed public feedback focused on accounting presentation, grant contingencies and transparency.
Village consultant Ann Marie Mampi outlined the budget development process and said the draft includes a capital improvement plan, personnel schedules and debt information intended to maintain board'approved fund balances. She told trustees the document reflects a multi'month process with inputs from departments and prior workshops.
Resident Al Foreman said he used spreadsheet testing to check the draft and urged the village to present fund groupings consistent with audited financial statements to avoid duplications that can overstate deficits. Foreman singled out a $4.62 million federal revenue line for the Lyons Township High School field project that appears in the capital plan but is not carried forward to the draft budget, saying it should be footnoted as contingent; otherwise, he said, the draft overstates the deficit. He also flagged what he described as inconsistencies in Army Corps sewer lining amounts and small rollup errors in the general fund.
"If it is intentional not to include those funds, you've got all the expense in," Foreman said, urging footnotes and alignment with the audited financial statements before final approval.
Resident Jonathan Robinson pressed for payroll transparency, noting the parking fund shows $750,000 in salary costs while listing three full'time employees in that fund. Robinson asked the board to clarify which departments charge those payroll costs and to update the budget to show how salaries are allocated.
Robinson also raised the $45,000 meeting'room camera system, saying the village has not recorded all smaller meetings as promised and that the village should budget for an operator or choose a simpler recording option if it intends to keep its commitment to record meetings.
Other speakers, including Laura West, welcomed increased flood relief allocations in the budget and urged timely progress on the LT field project. President Coogler reminded the public the draft budget will be considered for final approval on April 13, 2026, and said comments received at the hearing are invited as the board finalizes the document.
The board did not adopt the budget at this meeting; trustees directed staff to incorporate public feedback and return with the finalized ordinance at the scheduled adoption meeting.
