By Illinois Review
On Thursday evening, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her team, who was hired by Dolton Trustees to investigate the village’s finances under embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard’s tenure, presented a startling report as local residents were left stunned by the results of their initial findings that the once cash positive village was now $3.6 million in debt.
Henyard, who along with her village allies, are the focus of an FBI investigation as federal agents pour over village records and financial reports – was not present at Thursday’s town hall meeting with Lightfoot, but the findings paint a very bleak picture as the village struggles to pay its bills in the midst of her out of control spending and using taxpayer dollars as her own personal piggy bank.
During Thursday’s slide presentation, it was revealed that in 2022, less than a year after Henyard’s election as mayor, the Village of Dolton had a $4.95 million cash surplus, but in May of 2024, the village was facing a $5.68 million deficit. The report also indicated that during that same time period in FY 2022, the village was generating around $24 million in revenue and $23 million in expenditures. However, in FY 2024 the village maintained $24 million in revenue, but expenditures had increased to $30 million – leaving the village with a $6 million deficit.
The report also revealed – and to the shock of the residents in attendance, that over $43,000 was charged to one of the village’s credit cards for Amazon purchases in a single day. And on September 1, 2023, $7,699 was charged to the taxpayer funded credit card to Wayfair – the large online homegoods store.
A page from Lori Lightfoot’s probe into Dolton’s finances. (Lori Lightfoot Report/YouTube)
Financials also reveal extraordinary overtime pay to two police officers that doubled their annual salaries. In one instance, a local police officer earned a salary of $72,000 in FY 2023, but earned an additional $108,000 in overtime pay – collecting $180,000 in a single year. Another officer earned an annual salary of $55,000 in FY 2023, but collected an additional $87,000 in overtime that very same year – walking away with $142,000 in compensation at the end of the year.
Henyard remains in the headlines amid allegations of misusing public funds to fund an extravagant lifestyle. While Dolton – a small village in Cook County with a population of 21,000, has a medium household income of $54,000 – Henyard makes nearly $300,000 per year as village mayor and township supervisor.
The mayor-supervisor also flies first class and stays at luxury hotels while on “official” business trips. Henyard is also surrounded by police officers that make up her own personal security detail even when she is out of state – and back home, she is driven around in a presidential-style motorcade that has cost local taxpayers more than $1 million. Henyard even uses a gold encrusted microphone while speaking at village hall. And while the mayor-supervisor spends taxpayer dollars to fund her lavish lifestyle, local vendors are not being paid and the village and residents continue to struggle financially.
During the June 2022 Primary election, Dolton residents voted overwhelmingly to recall Henyard and kick her out of office, but she remained – taking her battle to court. In October 2022, an appellate court ruling dismissed the June recall vote – allowing Henyard to continue as mayor despite a majority of residents voting to remove her from office. At the village board meeting after the court decision, Henyard celebrated by mocking residents who tried to kick her out by singing a 1970s disco song “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead.
On November 1, 2022 – just days before the general election, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker made a visit to Dolton where he posed for a picture as Mayor Henyard and Andrew Holmes stood smiling next to him. In a post on her Instagram page that included the photo, Henyard wrote,
“Today was a good day JB Pritzker our Governor was in Dolton…I support and you should too. Please get out and Vote.”
While Dolton residents remain vocal and want Henyard kicked out of office, top Democratic officials, including Pritzker remain silent as the scandals continue to dominate national headlines – putting the small town of Dolton on America’s radar.
August 19-22, Gov. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats will host the Democratic National Convention.
