Kendall may ask auditor to examine payments made to board member
By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com May 11, 2012 1:58PM
Updated: June 14, 2012 8:23AM
YORKVILLE – Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis is recommending the County Board hire an independent auditor to review the per diem payments to one of its members.
Weis said neither he nor his office has the expertise to review the 49 per diems turned in by County Board member Dan Koukol, that are being questioned by Finance Committee Chairman Anne Vickery.
Citing the board’s own rules of order, Vickery has said the per diems were for meetings for which Koukol should not have been paid. They involve more than $4,000, she said.
Vickery turned over her findings to Weis, asking him for a review. Koukol has denied wrongdoing, saying most of the meetings were part of his duties as chairman of the Economic Development Committee.
This week, Weis told the board’s Committee of the Whole that the “fairest way” to deal with the situation is to have an independent auditor look at the per diems involved.
“It is incumbent on you, based on what information we’ve received, to do an audit,” Weis said. “Right now the allegation is against yourselves; to investigate yourself would have the appearance of impropriety.”
Weis said the audit could cost $125 to $200 an hour, or as much as $10,000.
Vickery said the board should take the proper follow up to the allegations. She said it could be avoided if Koukol “would stand up and pay what he owes the taxpayers.”
Koukol said if he owes anything, it is less than $4,000. He said he and County Board Chairman John Purcell looked over the meetings in question, and said “the findings are minimal.”
“The way you’ve handled this has been very ludicrous,” he said to Vickery.
It remains to be seen if the board would authorize the independent audit. Board member Nancy Martin said it might be necessary to spend $10,000 “to have someone tell us what we did wrong.”
Board member Robert Davidson said situations have “always been addressed by the board.”
“Let’s take a vote and let’s put it home, get it behind us,” he said.
