Broke Village Doesn't Have Money To Pay Employees, Fill Vehicles With Gas
DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) – The South suburb of Dixmoor is in deep money trouble.
Only three of the village's five squad cars have gas -- that's how desperate this situation is.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
Officials held an emergency board meeting Friday and heard complaints that village employees have not been paid.
"I've got seven kids at home. Not one -- seven. So what am I supposed to do," DeBorah Reeves, a 9-1-1 dispatcher, told officials.
"It's horrible," added Dixmoor Fire Dept. Chief Thomas Wendt. "My staff had payments bounce today because they didn't get their checks."
Public works vehicles have no gas.
"God forbid we have a major snowstorm. There ain't nothing I can do," Public Works Supt. Paris Steele said.
Police Chief Lanell Gilbert said he's had to use his own money to put gas in squad cars.
Mayor Keevan Grimmett says there's no money because the village has lost $600,000 in tax revenue. Grimmett says the goal of the emergency meeting was to choose a fund to tap so employees are paid and public works continue.
The problem was the board meeting didn't have a quorum. Trustee Fitzgerald Roberts wouldn't attend, saying the mayor's hastily called meeting is a violation of the rules.
"The trustees are supposed to get paid.The elected officials are supposed to get paid. No one has gotten paid due to the fact that the funds are not here and the mayor has not gone out and lobbied for funds," Roberts told Le Mignot.
Residents like Bernita Thigpen say they're fed up.
"I just can't have respect for them. I really don't understand how they wouldn't have money," she said.
The mayor says if a decision can't be reached, he'll seek an emergency court order to get access to money in one of the village funds.
