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Elgin mayor sounds off on councilman's claims

Elgin Mayor David Kaptain on Wednesday skewered a council member who had alleged the city violated federal law during its yearly audit process.

At the last Elgin City Council meeting July 13, Councilman Rich Dunne alleged the city violated federal law by not soliciting bids before hiring the audit firm Sikich LLC to do its so-called "single audit" of federal grants.

That is required if federal money is used to pay for the audit, which Dunne claimed Elgin did. Dunne brought that up during a presentation by Sikich partner Jim Savio, whose firm does the city's comprehensive audit.

Dunne's allegations are false, Kaptain said at the council meeting Wednesday.

"I feel I have an obligation to the residents and the taxpayers to clear up this issue and to protect the reputation of the city of Elgin," he said.

Dunne declined to respond to the mayor. After the meeting, he said he plans to do so at the next council meeting Aug. 24. "I disagree with this interpretation," he said.

Former City Manager Sean Stegall on July 13 said Dunne's statements were wrong. CFO Debra Nawrocki later echoed that, saying the entire cost of Sikich's audit, including the single audit of federal grants, is paid from the finance department's budget within the general fund.

Dunne could have presented his concerns via a questionnaire regarding fraud risk that senior staff members and council members complete as part of the audit process, Kaptain said. But Dunne didn't complete his questionnaire, he said.

"Instead, Mr. Dunne chose to resort to this embarrassing line of questioning to which he subjected Mr. Savio," he said. Kaptain said he apologized to Savio privately and wanted to issue a public apology.

Councilman John Prigge said he was uncomfortable with the way Kaptain addressed the issue. "We have enough hard feeling on this dais. We don't need any more."

But Councilman Terry Gavin commended the mayor. "You don't just fire a round and not know where it's going to land," he said of Dunne.

Still, the city should consider soliciting bids for its next comprehensive audit, Councilwoman Tish Powell said. That's an issue that Dunne brought up last year.

Elgin has used Sikich for 15 years; its latest 5-year contract expired this year.

David Kaptain, Elgin mayor
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