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Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has called on the Village of Orland Park to address its financial reporting delays.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau responded by suggesting Mendoza should focus on her own office’s reporting shortcomings.
The village has yet to submit its 2022 and 2023 audits. Pekau attributed the delays to changes in auditors and finance directors.
At its Nov. 4 meeting, the village board approved the 2022 audit and set a target of February or March for completing the 2023 audit.
In October, Mendoza warned the village that failure to file its audits could result in the suspension of some state payments.
By Oct. 17, Mendoza announced plans to withhold offset payments to the village, valued at $120,000 annually.
Pekau described the village’s audit as “clean” and accused Mendoza of selectively targeting Orland Park while many other governments remain delinquent in their reporting.
“Over 200 municipalities have not completed their 2023 audit, yet she decides to single out Orland Park to damage our residents. These actions are capricious and unacceptable,” Pekau said.
“The coup de grace is that the comptroller’s office itself has not yet filed its 2023 audit, even though their fiscal year ended six months before ours. Based on the schedule, we will actually finish ours sooner even if they [started] theirs tomorrow.”
The village board is expected to vote on a resolution at its Nov. 18 meeting, seeking to restore the offset funds.
Board members commended Naperville-based audit firm Sikich LLP for its ability to prepare the 2022 audit within six months despite challenges.
The delayed audits have attracted criticism and negative attention from some residents.
Resident Alison Resnick Hanania expressed concerns about transparency and financial accountability.
“The truth is that we have not been given a full and clear accounting on how the village spends money, mainly because it has failed to file its annual financial audits for 2022 and 2023,” she said. “The mayor’s response is that he is being picked on by Comptroller Susanna Mendoza, and that 75 other governments have not filed their financials. Well, that’s 75 out of 7,000 governments that have filed in a responsible and transparent manner.”
Trustee Brian Riordan acknowledged past “process issues” but assured residents that the village is catching up.
“In the 120 pages that I was able to read through [of the audit], it does not say we didn’t provide information, hid money somewhere, or misused funds. It’s nowhere in there.”
