What An Unusual Lyons Township Agency Pays Employees

La Grange IL

21 September, 2021

6:04 PM

Description

LA GRANGE, IL – The Lyons Township Treasurer's Office, which handles the finances for area school districts, has endured its share of drama in recent years. It spent $4.1 million in its eight-year legal battle to prevent Lyons Township High School from pulling out of the agency. In May, a state judge allowed the high school to separate, which it did. Under state law, this agency serves a dozen school districts. It declined to conduct forensic audits in 2012 and 2013 after its former treasurer, Robert Healy, stole $1.5 million in school funds. In 2015, he was sentenced to nine years. The lack of such audits was a major argument in the high school's lawsuit. The existence of such an agency is unusual. Such offices once dotted the state. But in 1962, the state Legislature abolished them everywhere but suburban Cook County. The treasurer's office employs six people, including Treasurer Ken Getty. They manage hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Through a recent public records request, the office released the wages for its employees in the 2020-21 fiscal year: Ken Getty, treasurer: $151,200Brigid Murphy, operations director: $113,300Lauralee Kane, HR and office manager: $73,440Lisa McAtee, staff accountant: $69,010Nancy Bechtold, payroll and accounts receivable: $64,890Catherine Pavlik, records manager: $55,000 The office serves school districts in La Grange, Western Springs and Burr Ridge, among other towns.