While Dolton has agreed to pay a $33.5 million judgment it owes within 10 years, village officials are holding on to hope that they will not have to raise property taxes to do so.
“We’re still in negotiations and discussing that, but it looks like we’re going to come up with a positive plan so the taxpayers won’t be burdened,” village attorney Michael McGrath said at Monday’s Village Board meeting.
Dolton and the families of John Kyles and Duane Dunlap agreed in court June 10 the village would pay the judgment and accruing interest in installments over 10 years, with the payments secured through a bond.
The village is only allowed to pay the judgment over time by adopting an ordinance, which passed Monday, stating that “unreasonable hardship will result” unless the judgment is paid in installments, according to state law.
“This is a requirement to move forward with a resolution that we’re hoping to put together and work together with plaintiffs’ counsel and the court,” McGrath said. “We are striving to come up with a plan that there is no increase in the property taxes of the residents.”
Cook County Judge William Sullivan, in an agreed order June 10, said the village’s and plaintiffs’ attorneys must come up with a schedule to pass ordinances by Aug. 10 to ensure the payments are secured through a bond. Attorney for the plaintiffs, Dan Stohr, declined to be interviewed Tuesday as negotiations continue with the village.
“I don’t want to step on anybody’s feet,” he said.
An Illinois Appellate Court in June 2024 affirmed the verdict on behalf of Kyles, who died following a 2016 police chase in Dolton, and Dunlap, who was left severely injured. The Illinois Supreme Court denied Dolton’s appeal of the appellate court decision in March 2025.
The judgment stems from a 2016 Dolton police chase stemmed from a traffic violation after the Kyles’ and Dunlap’s car skidded through a stop sign. Police chased the vehicle for about a mile until the vehicle crashed into a building.
Dolton attorneys submitted a plan in April with three options to pay the more than $33.5 million it owes as an alternative to a proposal presented by the plaintiffs’ attorneys to pay the judgment over 10 years through increased property taxes.
The filing stated that option would be mean “economic devastation” for Dolton’s businesses and residents, many of whom are senior citizens living on fixed incomes.
Sullivan previously said the village had three options to pay off the debt, which has accrued 6% per year through interest, or about $2 million per year: issue a bond, issue a tax levy increase or increase costs of services.
The village said revenue sources could include adding red-light cameras, enforcing a tax on video gambling machines and redirecting funds being used to satisfy a now-settled legal obligation to the city of Chicago.
Dolton has three red-light cameras and would add three to six more to generate between $1.7 million and $3.4 million in annual revenues, according to the plan. Red-light cameras generate municipal revenue by capturing traffic violations, for which drivers are then fined.
Adding the cameras would require approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Police issued 5,566 citations for red-light cameras in June alone, officials said Monday.
An ordinance approving a push tax, or a penny-per-play fee, on video gambling terminals was passed in October 2021, but never enforced, and legal challenges remain pending to such a tax. The village projected it could collect $180,000 annually by enforcing the tax.
Dolton also reached a settlement with Chicago regarding payments for past due water billing, and the last of those payments will be made in December, according to the plan. The court filing said the $1.1 million dollars the village pays annually to Chicago could contribute to the judgment’s payment.
The addition of those three funding sources would allow the village to pledge about $300,000 monthly, the plan stated.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
