Will County Gazette

The Republican candidate for Will County auditor has accused the Will County Board of featherbedding after allegedly delegating duties concerning the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to a Cook County consulting firm.

“There should be, in a town of Joliet, enough consultants to choose from that will be able to help distribute the money,” said James Buiter, a CPA campaigning to unseat incumbent Democrat Duffy Blackburn in November.

Buiter lodged the accusation after learning the ad hoc CARES committee of the Will County Board had voted to pay a pricey Chicago-based firm to distribute funds awarded to the county through the CARES Act.

“I understand the Republicans on the committee voted for the consultant because they don't trust the auditor to handle the job,” Buiter told the Will County Gazette. “For a couple of years running now, there's been some discrepancies and no accountability of why there are discrepancies in the paperwork and accounting work at Will County.”

Among the alleged discrepancies is a gap of up to $25 million that’s unaccounted for, according to Buiter, who hopes after being elected he can investigate.

“If there is anything illegally done, we can prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “It would be up to the state's attorney but if there's a problem with the accounting of what's going on at the county level and there was wrongdoing happening, there are legal ramifications.”

The Will County Board did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The CARES Act allocated $2.2 trillion to businesses in forgivable loans to ease restrictions created by the COVID-19 outbreak. Will County, Buiter says, received $120.5 million.

“Hopefully, there'll be no more deficit and all that money should go to the citizens of Will County,” he said. “From what I’ve seen in a July 6 e-mail for the CARES, only COVID-19-related expenses can be reimbursed. Expenses such as personal protection equipment would be covered for most departments. Also, other county departments, like the health department, are receiving other grants for COVID-related expenses at schools and such but expenses in excess of those grants can be reimbursed by the CARES Act dollars.”

As of July 12, there were 153,916 coronavirus cases statewide and 7,187 deaths, according to the Illinois Department of  Public Health.

“Other counties, like DuPage, are having their auditor distribute these contracts because the auditor and the treasurer are supposed to know where the tax deficiencies are within each of the local townships and in our local businesses throughout the county,” Buiter said. “Why is our auditor not doing his job and why is our auditor punting his responsibilities while receiving a Will County taxpayer-funded paycheck?”

Tim Brophy is treasurer of Will County.