Arlington Heights Fails to Audit Tax Revenue for Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant, Loses $1.1 Million to Rolling Meadows

The Village of Arlington Heights was deprived of 10 years of tax revenues from Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant because the Arlington Heights Finance Department under the leadership of Village Manager Randy Recklaus failed from 2011 to early 2020 to audit the tax revenue due from Cooper’s Hawk, which is located in Arlington Heights at the border with Rolling Meadows.

The Village of Arlington Heights only recovered $109,000 after discovering the tax revenue error in March 2020. Arlington Heights recovered the maximum allowed by law, which was only the amount that covered the last six months of 2019 — just prior to the discovery. Another $1.1 million in sales tax revenue, which was generated from Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant between June 2011 and March 2020, was not recoverable, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Cooper’s Hawk, which opened in June 2011 in Arlington Heights at 798 West Algonquin Road (the southeast corner of Golf Road and Algonquin Road), was mistakenly entered by the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) as a Rolling Meadows business.

In 2022, the Village of Arlington Heights sued Rolling Meadows to recover the previous $1.1 million in sales tax revenue from Cooper’s Hawk that should have been distributed by IDOR to the Village of Arlington Heights.

A Cook County judge agreed with the City of Rolling Meadows that the IDOR has exclusive jurisdiction over such disputes and dismissed the recovery claim from the Village of Arlington Heights.

Arlington Heights attorneys appealed the Cook County judge’s ruling, and an Illinois appellate court reversed the Cook County court’s decision. Next, the City of Rolling Meadows appealed the appellate court ruling in Illinois Supreme Court, which overturned the appellate decision and affirmed the Cook County trial court’s ruling. The Illinois Supreme Court justices ruled that “the IDOR has exclusive jurisdiction over tax matters, including misallocation disputes.”

The Illinois Supreme Court decision demonstrates that municipalities are required to review IDOR reports and that municipalities lose the ability to recover lost tax revenue beyond a specific time period.

In a prepared statement, Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes, said Rolling Meadows, “should be ashamed of this unjust result.” Hayes added, that the dispute involved “a case of unjust enrichment and right versus wrong” and criticized Rolling Meadows for a “persistent refusal to act fairly and responsibly.” The official Village of Arlington Heights website did not publish the Illinois Supreme Court result that would have provided residents full disclosure of the financial negligence by the Village of Arlington Heights and the Village Manager, who is responsible for overseeing the performance of all departments in the Village of Arlington Heights. Also, there were no official comments by Mayor Thomas Hayes or Village Manager Randy Recklaus to assure residents of Arlington Heights that procedures would be established to prevent this from happening again with any business in the Village of Arlington Heights.

In a prepared statement, Rolling Meadows Mayor Lara Sanoica commented on The Supreme Court’s decision remarking that the IDOR decides how “how sales tax misallocations are to be handled under existing state law and affirms that the City of Rolling Meadows followed the law as established by the Illinois legislature,”

Mayor Sanoica added, “Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows regularly work together to serve our residents who share the same schools and civic institutions” and will continue with a “positive working relationship with the Village of Arlington Heights to promote the overall well-being and prosperity of our shared community.”

The Village of Arlington Heights and the City of Rolling Meadows share fire, rescue and EMS responsibilities, since there are addresses in Arlington Heights that are closer to two Rolling Meadows fire stations, and there are addresses in Rolling Meadows that are closer to one Arlington Heights fire station. In December 2023, a ladder truck crew from Rolling Meadows put a stop to a serious fire in an Arlington Heights condo building (see Extra-Alarm Fire at Mallard Cove Condos on Old Wilke Rd in Arlington Heights Displaces Residents).

If the Chicago Bears Football Club builds an NFL stadium at the former Arlington Park, the Village of Arlington Heights and the City of Rolling Meadows will need to cooperate extensively for infrastructure and traffic planning. Part of the former Arlington Park property is located within the city limits of Rolling Meadows.

The ultimate responsibility for this financial negligence goes to Village Manager Randy Recklaus, who earns almost $300,000 annually as Village Manager of Arlington Heights. The village manager’s income is about four times the median income for males in Arlington Heights ($71,416), and about six times the median income for females in Arlington Heights ($51,319). His income is almost six times the per capita income in Arlington Heights ($51,340).

RANDY RECKLAUS RAISES

6% raise in 2024 with a $10K bonus
7% raise in 2023
7% raise in 2022
5% raise in 2021
5% raise in 2020
4% raise in 2019
4.5% raise in 2018

For some reason, Randy Recklaus is the darling of the Village Board. He has been given a significant raise every year since 2018 — accelerating at a higher rate than police officers and firefighters.

^^ MOBILE? USE VOICE MIC ^^

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