A day after walking out on a Village Board meeting, four Dolton trustees at odds with Mayor Tiffany Henyard held a special meeting Tuesday to approve a tentative tax levy and talk about a village that remains divided.

Meeting at a Dolton Park District facility with about two dozen residents attending, the trustees said they are trying to be good stewards of taxpayer money, but are being kept in the dark about the true state of village finances.

Trustee Jason House, selected to lead the meeting, told residents trustees were not supplied with sufficient information about agenda items to be acted on at Monday’s meeting, and said the information they received came late.

That led to the majority of six trustees voting to adjourn the meeting and leaving, although Henyard continued the Monday’s meeting in their absence.

At Tuesday’s meeting, House and Trustees Kiana Belcher, Tammy Brown, Brittney Norwood and Village Clerk Alison Key discussed approving minutes of past meetings, paying bills and setting a tax levy for the coming year.

The estimated levy of $14.8 million is down from a proposed levy of $15.9 million, which would have represented an increase of 5% from the 2022 levy for property taxes collected last year.

Adopting the levy is “one of the most important things we do as a board,” Norwood said.

Trustees held off on approving the village’s budget, with Belcher saying she is not comfortable with the numbers being presented.

“The numbers are fictitious, inflated, not realistic,” Belcher said.

The village’s fiscal year began May 1 and trustees this summer had considered a tentative spending plan, but nothing was formally approved, House said.

The trustees did approve the payroll and some bills, but held off approval on some items, including legal expenses and bills for tree trimming. They said they have been asked at Village Board meetings to approve bills for expenses they were not aware of and for contracts they did not approve.

“These special meetings are required because we are not getting the information due to us to make the best financial decisions,” Belcher said.

House and other trustees said notice of the special meeting was posted Sunday, ahead of the regular Monday meeting, and that all Village Board members were notified by email. Henyard did not attend the special meeting nor did Trustees Stanley Brown and Andrew Holmes.

Village Board meetings have led to lengthy discussions about issues such as what vendors are being hired for work, and the state of village finances. House said recent financial reports received by trustees show a deficit approaching $7 million.

Dolton is “still a town divided unfortunately,” House said of the relationship among trustees and village administration.

“We really need for our community to move forward,” he said.

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At board meetings “when we ask questions there is a lot of tension and anger,” and that has necessitated special meetings, he said.

If issues could be hashed out at regularly scheduled meetings “that would be easier for the residents, the board and for the community as a whole,” he said.

Henyard did not immediately respond to messages on Wednesday.

Village Administrator Keith Freeman, accompanied by a uniformed Dolton police officer, came into Tuesday’s meeting after it was underway.

Freeman said an email sent Sunday to the Village Board regarding the levy was a precursor to a more thorough outline, which the board is scheduled to vote on at its Dec. 26 meeting.

Freeman said his working relationship with the trustees at the special meeting has been “contentious at best,” but that “I think for the most part I’ve been respectful to all of you.”

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