Tensions flared at a Thornton Township budget meeting Friday afternoon, with the appearance of Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard causing controversy in the room.
From outbursts, clapping and shouting, police stood by during the meeting prepared to remove people from the meeting as residents flooded officials with questions about public spending.
“What we are not going to do is be homeless with her raising our taxes,” one resident said at Friday's meeting. “You say you have good business skills, you should take a look at the budget again.”
“It is too much disrespect among the township, we need transparency,” another resident said.
Henyard is the subject of numerous lawsuits filed by both current and former Dolton employees.
Henyard currently makes a yearly salary of $224,000 in her role as Thornton Township Supervisor, though the Board of Trustees passed an ordinance in December 2023 that states that if Henyard runs for reelection in 2025 and loses, her successor's salary would drop to $25,000.
Though taxpayers eyed some savings with that ordinance, a bill that passed in Springfield this week would undo the measure.
The bill would amend the township code and prohibit the pay for any supervisor in a Cook County township from being increased during the term of office for the supervisor, whether elected or appointed.
The bill would also prohibit a township from decreasing the salary for a person elected as supervisor while maintaining the salary of an incumbent.
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That legislation passed both houses of the Illinois legislature and now needs the signature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker to become law.
Thornton Township is currently the largest township in the state, comprising of 17 south suburban communities with approximately 185,000 residents.
