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Spending fight keeps Elk Grove Township from authorizing bills

A spat in Elk Grove Township politics will cost taxpayers a couple thousand dollars and wasted workforce hours.

Last week, board members angrily ended a meeting without voting to approve bills for paying employees, assisting the needy and repairing roads. They're having a makeup meeting Wednesday to complete their unfinished work.

It will cost $1,750 to video-record and possibly another $500 to pay board members for showing up - depending on whether trustees ask to get paid.

The ongoing argument between Township Supervisor Mike Sweeney and Trustee Andrea Koshaba had been simmering, if not already boiling, for months before the meeting last Monday.

In June, while Sweeney was on vacation, trustees approved Koshaba's proposal to limit the amount a supervisor could spend without prior authorization of the board to $500. A year and a half earlier, Sweeney had self-imposed a limit of $10,000, calling it a signal of goodwill to seek input from trustees.

State law doesn't explicitly limit the amount a supervisor can spend on purchases but requires townships to get bids on items over $20,000.

A township policy allows the supervisor to pay bills before meetings, with trustees acting as an audit when they vote to ratify the spending, Sweeney said. Because of this, services and employee paychecks won't be halted because of the delay.

At a July meeting, Sweeney asked the board to reconsider its decision, arguing the spending limit could hamper township work. The debate spilled over to last week's meeting in which Koshaba moved to adjourn halfway through as arguments heated up. Her motion was approved 4-1, including support from Sweeney. Trustee Bob Ingraffia opposed.

"It's past - it's done," Koshaba said of the spending limit in an interview Tuesday. "Are you going to revisit this every meeting and waste everybody's time?"

Sweeney said he regretted voting to adjourn before completing the meeting.

"It's a complete waste of taxpayer resources," he said.

Sweeney is proposing the four trustees not be paid a $125 stipend for the meeting. Trustees will decide whether to challenge the move.

Elk Grove Township Trustee Andrea Koshaba

When arguing for approval of the lower spending limit, Koshaba criticized Sweeney for spending money on a water pump two years ago. Her concerns with the issue have since been "cleared up," she said.

"Now almost two years later, they want to use it against me to justify their political maneuvering," Sweeney said. "In the meantime, they are impeding township business."

But Koshaba also panned Sweeney for spending thousands to correct a gaffe in a township newsletter.

In February, the township published a newsletter honoring a resident who portrayed himself as a former prisoner of war taken captive while serving as a Green Beret during the Vietnam War. The township later called the story "patently false" in an apology to residents.

The township sent every township resident the apology letter and a correction, which cost about $12,000 for printing and postage. Sweeney said he felt sick about the false story and believed issuing the apology was the correct action.

However, Sweeney said, the spending policy is about politics, not efficient government.

Koshaba disagreed that the policy is a political attack on Sweeney.

"Why would it be political?" she said. "I don't understand. It's like if we ever disagree with him, it's political."

The meeting is 7 p.m. Wednesday at 2400 S. Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights.

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