Illinois bars contractor it says overbilled state

CHICAGO — The Illinois Department of Transportation has barred engineering firm McDonough Associates from getting any contracts for three years. That’s after concluding the company overbilled taxpayers by millions of dollars.

The department has demanded more than $1.9 million from the firm to compensate for the alleged overbilling and has referred its findings to authorities. Its conclusions could jeopardize millions of dollars in contracts with other state government agencies.

The company has acknowledged making what it calls “honest mistakes in accounting procedures” in its billings but says it did not steal money from the state.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday that McDonough Associates Inc. has ties to dozens of politicians and the Daley family. Its chairman, James McDonough, was once the streets and sanitation commissioner under late Mayor Richard J. Daley.