A new mayor and city council in Dixon, Illinois, means new ideas about where the money recovered from former comptroller Rita Crundwell should be spent.
In May, Liandro Arellano was sworn into office as mayor, along with four new council members. He says one of the group's priorities is putting city finances under a microscope.
"The way we look at it is, we got elected with a mandate to take a hard look at everything the city does, especially from an expense point of view, and that's exactly what we're doing," said Arellano.
Between 1990 and 2012, Crundwell embezzled more than $50 million from the city. She pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison. In October 2013, the City Council signed off on a $40 million settlement deal with the bank and auditor that failed to catch Crundwell’s crime.
The former council planned to award some of that Crundwell settlement money to The Next Picture Show, Dixon Main Street, Inc., the Dixon Tourism Board, Christmas decorations, and the purchase of boat docks for Heritage Crossing.
Monday, though, aldermen voted to rescind those April budget decisions made by the previous city council.
"I think the same thing is happening at the state level. Governor Quinn did a whole bunch of things on his way out of office that our current governor is trying to undo," said Arellano.
Arellano says there is around $5 million in settlement funds left. He believes that money should go towards core city services, like streets and sewers.
"That money needs to be spent catching up on the infrastructure that was ignored during the years when our budget was tight," said Arellano.
Arellano says non-profits, like the Next Picture Show and Dixon Main Street, will likely still be funded as part of the ongoing budget process. Those organizations, though, will need to fight against other worthy projects for the money.