A Growing Rift

A letter crafted by a Chicago-area law firm authorized by Fairfield District 112 to the City of Fairfield is the first step in a two-step dance. The second step will---in all likelihood---end in court.

The letter, signed by the former General Council of the Illinois School Board Association, Sara Boucek, was direct and to the point. The school board wants its money. Boucek was paid $80-dollars to write the letter. I asked when I heard she was from a law firm from outside the county.

In the two-page letter, the attorney said the city negotiated the TIF extension and promised 40-percent of the take off the top. It is memorialized in an ordinance. In fact, the city even adhered to the agreement,  paying 40-percent for the first few years. But that money stopped two years ago.

The letter says District 112 could have educated 39 students….or hired six full-time teachers if it had been paid what it was due. Boucek said the city had “violated the trust of the entire Fairfield community,” that the city was not in compliance with its own ordinance…and used the word “misappropriation” when talking about TIF money distribution.

Serious words….the kind of words used in lawsuits.

The mayor says he won’t respond. He will look to a new city council TIF committee to handle the problem. The Mayor has a big advantage in the inevitable lawsuit. The school district will have to use tax money to pay their legal bills.

The city will use TIF money to protect its…..TIF money.