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October 31, 2024

Algonquin Township Road District – Major concerns with Anna May Miller’s April 2017 pay

By Kirk Allen & John Kraft

On May 23, 2018

McHenry Co. (ECWd) –

During our deep dive into Anna May Miller’s pay information, there are numerous issues that appear to point to the justification for further review by law enforcement and possible legal action by taxpayers.

  • A pay period for the Road District employee is bi-weekly.
  • Road District employees will be compensated according to the salary schedule at the approved rate of pay for all work up to 40 hours in a work week.
  • Overtime monetary pay will be provided to those employees designated to receive overtime at a rate of 1.5 times their regular hourly rate of pay. This will be provided after 40 hours in a week regardless of the hours worked in any one (1) day.

Policy Manual can be downloaded at this link.

To make this very clear, no matter how many hours they work in a day, they only get overtime after 40 hrs in a week.  So in one pay period, 80hrs, there should be a break down of each week for hours worked.   The Township Road District conveniently has no time cards in their possession.  The only thing they have produced is a payroll record that only reflects two-week intervals with no documentation as to which week overtime could have been applied to.

The most regular pay you can earn is 80hrs in a given pay period.  When you are paid for 80hrs that means you were at work.  There is no provision for conversion of sick leave, vacation leave, or any other leave too compensation while you’re at work and still employed.

Anny May Miller’s pay period of 4/6/2017 to 4/19/2017 has a problem.  She received 72 hours of regular pay and 10.75 hrs of overtime.  We have no clue if she actually worked 40hrs in one of those weeks before getting overtime.  Without a proper paper trail, she walks on the overtime.  Total hours she claims to have been at work and getting paid is 82.75 hrs.

So if she is at work 82.75 hrs. during that pay period, how on earth did she also get paid to be on vacation for 92 hrs?  Or be sick for 20 hrs?  The policy has no provision for conversion of vacation time and more importantly, no policy at all on sick pay.

During the 4/20/2017 to 5/3/2017 pay period she was paid regular pay for 80 hrs and 5.50 hrs of overtime, making her at work 85.5 hrs during that period.  Once again we see 92 hrs of vacation pay being converted to compensation along with 20 more hrs of sick time.

There is no provision in the policy for sick time, let alone converting 40 hrs worth of it, to compensation.  In fact, the “Paid Time Off” policy clearly states it “..will be paid only for approved absences and for times when the employee would normally be scheduled to work.”  We know she was not absent as she got paid for 82.75 and 85.5 hrs for working during those pay cycles.

How is the conversion of unearned sick time to compensation not theft of funds? 

Additionally, the vacation policy clearly states the condition for unused vacation time to be paid out is only applicable to those who had their employment terminated or because of a death or retirement.   Anna May Miller not only had not earned that many vacation days by that time of year, as outlined in this article, there is no provision to convert vacation to compensation while you’re still employed according to their own policy.

We believe the irregularities with the spending of taxpayer money with this Township more than justifies a forensic audit.  Based on years of investigating public bodies we are confident a forensic audit of the Algonquin Township Road District will make it real clear for everyone to see, there have been crimes committed.

Sadly, many are quick to defend situations like this and claim nothing is wrong since no one has been charged.  Most would be well advised to realize a lot of crimes are committed where people never get charged.  There are a lot of reasons for that but there are no excuses for it when the facts are known to all in a position to take action.

The truth in this township has been just waiting to be exposed.  That exposure, if adequate, should lead to a forensic audit, just as was done in Iroquois County, Country Club Hills, and probably our biggest validation of our work, the College of Dupage.  During months and years of exposure from those public bodies, we heard the same thing from the locals as we are hearing from so many in Algonquin Township.  

There is nothing easy about holding friends accountable to the same laws as other criminals and those that do are true representatives of how our government is supposed to work.

And for all the above and many more reasons, elections have consequences and it can be a two-edged sword.  One side acts and does right by the people while the other turns a blind eye and allows it to happen.

What side of that blade are you on?
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3 Comments
  • Angie
    Posted at 02:32h, 28 May

    Edgar County Watchdogs needs to investigate the Village of LaGrange Park government sometime soon.

    http://mobile.rblandmark.com/News/Articles/5-16-2017/Brookfield-settles-lawsuit-against-police-officers/

    The same sarge that was named in a lawsuit for “failure to intervene” is still on the payroll. What other waste of taxpayer dollars is going on in this village’s government?

    They were spotted spying on innocent civilians who were known to be politically active in the police reform and accountability movement by (get this) showing up at the Jewel-Osco on Woodlawn in LaGrange Park to stare at them while they exited the store after (wait, get this) SHOPPING.

    Perhaps a boycott of all further shopping in LaGrange Park is warranted if this type of police intimidation goes on regularly.

    Illinois will have policing reform. Not intimidation of policing reform activists.

    • Angie
      Posted at 12:20h, 28 May

      I posted the wrong link above, although that Brookfield lawsuit also involved a couple of LaGrange Park officers that were present when the LaGrange Park men were wrongfully arrested for the supposed Brookfield bar incident. Both suburbs seem to have some real idiots on their police forces that they have jointly gotten into legal trouble over their actions.

      In any event, I meant to post this link:

      https://patch.com/illinois/lagrange/villages-agree-to-pay-man-in-taser-lawsuit

      The same sarge that was named in that lawsuit, where a diabetic in the middle of a seizure flailed his arm and got allegedly tasered for a ridiculous period of time by an officer, is still on the payroll despite having been accused in the lawsuit of “failure to intervene.” This is quite common for police departments to settle out of court to avoid admission of guilt, and then you have to point out that they “allegedly” did thus and such to be technically clear that the police were never actually found to be guilty. How many guilty police departments have settled cases rather than go to trial? Who knows, but these settlements are costing taxpayers money; it’s a disgrace.

      Edgar County Watchdogs should keep on teaching the public how to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to investigate governments and their police departments throughout Illinois. Let the taxpayers see how their tax dollars are being spent and whether there is any waste, fraud or abuse. There is also an organization called Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, IL that publishes FOIA determinations on their website.

      It is very important for civilians to “police” these suburban police departments, because there is no oversight body such as COPA, which oversees complaints regarding City of Chicago police. There probably needs to be a suburban Inspector General to look into these suburban police departments. In the meantime, however, it is up to civilians armed with the FOIA to uncover evidence of abuse or fraud and to bring it to the attention of journalists or bloggers.

      The people of Illinois are great people, even if many of our governments and police departments are a disgrace. Let’s keep up the necessary work of reforming our entire State. Do not sit back and throw up your hands in surrender because you think it is hopeless. Remember…we VOTE in November! Vote for strong FOIA supporters for the AG’s office! Vote for reformers!

      And I recommend also NOT spending a dime in LaGrange Park or Brookfield. I know I won’t!

  • Roger
    Posted at 16:10h, 24 May

    Perhaps this is a case of “multitasking”… on vacation yet thinking of work so might as well get paid for both.

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