State Forcing Audit On Chicago Suburb

LYONS, IL – The state said it plans to force an audit on a western Chicago suburb that hasn't completed one in years.

The state comptroller's office is targeting Lyons, a suburb west of Chicago.

"A deadline was recently given," Rosanna Barbaro, director of the comptroller's local government division, said in an interview this week. "They have not responded with the necessary information."

On March 5, Patch submitted a public records request to the village for the most recent audit. The village has yet to respond, although it is required to do so under state law.

In response to Patch's inquiry Wednesday, Village Manager Tom Sheahan said Lyons submitted its 2023 audit to the comptroller. But he said a minor error was flagged after submittal and is being corrected.

Sheahan also said the 2024 audit is currently in progress and is on track to be completed next month. The 2025 audit, he said, was not past due and will be completed immediately following the 2024 document.

"The Village takes its financial reporting obligations seriously," Sheahan said in an email.

The last Lyons audit on the comptroller's website was for 2021. It was submitted in late 2022.

That audit was done by Chicago-based GW & Associates, which has given Mayor Chris Getty more than $5,000 in campaign contributions over the years. The firm also does Lyons Township's audits.

In his email, Sheahan said the village has retained a new auditing firm to finish the current audit work and help ensure the village remains on schedule moving forward.

"This transition is part of the Village's effort to maintain accurate financial reporting, meet state filing requirements, and provide residents with timely access to important financial information," Sheahan said.

Getty, who is running as an independent for Congress, has been Lyons' mayor since 2009.

Getty is also the elected supervisor for Lyons Township, which includes towns such as La Grange, Western Springs, Burr Ridge and Hinsdale.

A recent Patch analysis found that Getty has accepted more than $600,000 in campaign donations from companies that do business with his village.

Many mayors are unpaid or get little. For instance, La Grange's village president makes $3,600 a year.

As mayor, Getty's pay was $63,980 as of 2021, according to the latest salary information on the town's website. That was up from $46,659 a year earlier.

As the township supervisor, Getty's salary rose to $74,000 last year. When he started in 2017, it was $40,474. By 2028, his salary will reach $80,000, according to the township's salary resolution last year.

In February, Getty announced his 4th District congressional candidacy in an Oak Brook meeting hall filled with backers. He presented himself as a different kind of candidate.

"Representation is earned, not inherited," he told his cheering supporters. "Leadership should be accountable, and the people should always have the final say."

The 4th District is Democratic turf. In November, Rep. Chuy Garcia, a Chicago Democrat, announced his retirement at the end of his term. He left little time for candidates to collect petition signatures to get on the ballot. Only his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, got a heads-up, so she met the requirements on time.

The Republican candidate is Lupe Castillo.

Getty's father is the late Kenneth Getty, an insurance salesman who was Lyons' mayor from 1989 to 1997.

Kenneth Getty was convicted of rigging construction bids as mayor. He was released from prison in 2004, according to a Chicago Tribune story.