A transparency group has accused the Allin Township Fire Protection District Board of Trustees of forgery and and false billing and the McLean County sheriff of brushing the allegations aside.
The Edgar County Watchdogs reported recently that the township’s attorney has not responded to requests for Ordinance 13-8 and the minutes for the meeting in which it was approved. The ordinance provides for the approval of the board that the fire department must have before submitting bills for payment. Any bills submitted without prior approval would be illegal, the group maintains.
"According to records we have obtained, the Fire Department has billed approximately $35,000.00 under an ordinance that was never approved," the watchdog group posted on its Illinois Leaks website. "That action may qualify as a false claim as defined by the law."
The group says the ordinance is void because despite the fact that it is dated Nov. 13, 2013, and was supposedly approved on that day, minutes from the Fire Protection District’s Board meeting do not include any entries about the ordinance. The watchdogs argue that the ordinance could not have been approved during the meeting.
In addition, the county sheriff, Jon Sandage, did not conduct an investigation because the actions could be viewed as business violations rather than legal concerns, according to the Edgar County group.
The watchdog group is further alleging that the township has not fully complied with a Freedom of Information Act request, since the ordinance and applicable minutes, which had been made available earlier, are now being withheld.
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