Harvey to lay off 10 percent of municipal workforce next month

Harvey is bracing for will layoff 10 percent of municipal workers effective August 23, officials announced today in a news release.

There are no disruptions expected to the police and fire departments, but disruptions are to be expected amongst other departments, though residents will be regularly updated. Affected employees have been notified in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, and is open to discussing potential alternatives with union leadership, according to the news release.

According to Mayor Chris Clark, the call comes after prior efforts to avoid cuts, including “eliminating discretionary spending,” “enforcing tax compliance,” and “making operational adjustments.” Calling businesses “tax-dodging,” he then took aim at delinquent commercial property taxes for the reason behind the layoffs.

“Harvey residents have borne the brunt of rising costs and unfair tax practices for too long,” Clark said. “It is unconscionable that 465 commercial property owners have failed to pay their taxes while benefiting from police, garbage removal, water, and other critical services. These layoffs are a direct consequence of their failure to contribute their fair share.”

In January 2024, the City Council approved an ordinance to withhold business licenses from companies located at commercial properties with delinquent taxes — even if they don’t own the property. Then, the mayor’s office released a “settlement agreement,” where businesses can pay fines ranging from $12,000 to $30,000 while working toward tax compliance. That sparked a protest and federal lawsuit alleging Harvey is extorting businesses under the pretext of collecting unpaid tax dollars.

Harvey only collects roughly 52 percent of its property tax revenue, according to past year’s data from the Cook County Treasurer’s Office. That’s roughly $12.2 million, according to the city’s news release. Those low collection rates makes it harder to fund basic city services, and also creates a squeeze on local school districts — many largely funded by property tax revenue.

“This is a turning point,” Clark said. “We must now decide as a city whether we let a small group of tax-delinquent businesses cripple our future—or if we stand together and rebuild from a place of fairness and fiscal honesty.”

Budget season is around the corner. There’s a City Council meeting next week. With longstanding frustrations and concerns from residents around a lack of financial transparency, the announcement is likely to draw heavy attendance on Monday.

Two years ago, Michelle Ellzey exited as finance director, now working as finance director in Riverdale, according to her LinkedIn profile. Harvey is dealing with its own delinquency, having now submitted state-mandated audits for the three most recent fiscal years, and the Illinois comptroller is cracking down. In 2024, after the HWH reported that a city collector was previously convicted of financial crimes, he was quietly fired.

Comptroller Louis Williams presented two comptroller reports last year. That coincided with city treasurer Aisha Pickett’s own de facto reports during public comment, where she complained of inadequate communication between her office and the finance department and limited access to documents that ultimately yielded conflicting financial figures when compared with Williams’ own reports. During a council meeting shortly after, Clark usurped City Clerk Rosa Arambula’s office, punting an alder’s request to have Pickett’s findings included in the meeting minutes.

In March, the mayor delivered a presentation where he indicated the lack of financial reporting to the community was not an issue of misconduct but rather procedure.

Last month, a summary of Harvey’s monthly bank statements were presented. The mayor expressed concern over the treasurer’s report because the figures had not been reconciled with the comptroller or reviewed by the finance committee. The figures were reflected as of August 2024.