Milton Township’s Food Pantry; Thinks It’s Not Subject To FOIA –

Milton Township, Ill. (ECWd) –

After several attempts at obtaining records of employees of the Milton Township Food Pantry, we can only report that “there are no records related to employees of the Milton Township Food Pantry in the possession of Milton Township.” We noticed the township did not say there were no employees, only that they did not have any records naming who the employees were.

The township claimed there are no records of any contracts or agreements between the food pantry and the township, which leads us to wonder how the township can allow use of township-licensed vehicles without any contracts or agreements…unless the food pantry is part of the township government (we believe it is).

The township has also claimed its food pantry is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) – which we are in the process of disputing for the following reasons:

The Milton Township Food Pantry:

• Its business address same as Township
• Its board of directors is the township’s elected officials
• Its vehicles are registered to the township and sport municipal license plates
• It uses the township’s website on its annual IRS 990 form
• The township’s accountant holds its books at the township
• It uses the township’s phone number
• It uses the township’s building(s) and utilities