Mayor of Washington Park, Illinois Killed
DandyDan
North Iowa
I know there are some of you, and me, who have been to the various clubs there. From reading the article, it sounds like the people in power are the problem.
WASHINGTON PARK, Ill. (April 1) - The mayor of a decaying village near St. Louis known for its strip clubs and beset by financial troubles and embezzlements was shot and killed early Thursday.
Washington Park police Detective Kim McAfee said John Thornton, 52, was shot twice in the chest at close range in his car shortly before 6 a.m., and he died later at a hospital.
McAfee said police suspect the mayor had been driving around Washington Park, a 5,300-resident town in southwestern Illinois, after working an overnight shift on a second job when the killer fired at him.
Two suspects were later arrested, but no charges have been filed, McAfee said.
Robert Cohen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Family members of slain Washington Park Mayor John Thornton, including his son, Deputy Fire Chief John Thornton, Jr., second from right, gather for a prayer vigil Thursday. Thornton, 52, was shot twice in the chest at close range in his car.
Thornton narrowly won re-election a year ago to a second term and recently took part in anti-violence marches in his St. Clair County community, where the 2000 Census indicates nearly half the population lives below the poverty line.
Washington Park filed for rarely used Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last July, citing assets of less than $50,000 and debt of more than $1 million. Chapter 9 allows governmental units to restructure.
The village, with a median household income roughly half the national average at just $21,132 as of the 2000 Census, made a similar filing in 2004, claiming a $1.6 million debt. That case was dismissed because the village emerged from insolvency, albeit only briefly.
Thefts from the village's coffers haven't helped.
Last September, former Thornton aide Linda Connor was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the village nearly $370,000 that she admitted she had embezzled or intentionally misapplied from April 2005 through 2007, causing the employees' pension funds to be underfunded. Last summer's bankruptcy filing showed that the village owed the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund $26,346.50.
In March of last year, former payroll clerk Dorothy Triplett was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing nearly $144,000 from the village in 2006 and 2007. A judge has ordered her to repay the money.
In October 2006, Takisha Walker was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the more than $170,000 she pilfered from the village to cover personal expenses for herself and others.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON PARK, Ill. (April 1) - The mayor of a decaying village near St. Louis known for its strip clubs and beset by financial troubles and embezzlements was shot and killed early Thursday.
Washington Park police Detective Kim McAfee said John Thornton, 52, was shot twice in the chest at close range in his car shortly before 6 a.m., and he died later at a hospital.
McAfee said police suspect the mayor had been driving around Washington Park, a 5,300-resident town in southwestern Illinois, after working an overnight shift on a second job when the killer fired at him.
Two suspects were later arrested, but no charges have been filed, McAfee said.
Robert Cohen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Family members of slain Washington Park Mayor John Thornton, including his son, Deputy Fire Chief John Thornton, Jr., second from right, gather for a prayer vigil Thursday. Thornton, 52, was shot twice in the chest at close range in his car.
Thornton narrowly won re-election a year ago to a second term and recently took part in anti-violence marches in his St. Clair County community, where the 2000 Census indicates nearly half the population lives below the poverty line.
Washington Park filed for rarely used Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last July, citing assets of less than $50,000 and debt of more than $1 million. Chapter 9 allows governmental units to restructure.
The village, with a median household income roughly half the national average at just $21,132 as of the 2000 Census, made a similar filing in 2004, claiming a $1.6 million debt. That case was dismissed because the village emerged from insolvency, albeit only briefly.
Thefts from the village's coffers haven't helped.
Last September, former Thornton aide Linda Connor was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the village nearly $370,000 that she admitted she had embezzled or intentionally misapplied from April 2005 through 2007, causing the employees' pension funds to be underfunded. Last summer's bankruptcy filing showed that the village owed the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund $26,346.50.
In March of last year, former payroll clerk Dorothy Triplett was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing nearly $144,000 from the village in 2006 and 2007. A judge has ordered her to repay the money.
In October 2006, Takisha Walker was sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the more than $170,000 she pilfered from the village to cover personal expenses for herself and others.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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7 comments
We need some bright investigative reporter to come to Washington Park and do an in-depth story, like a gal did on the Bunny Ranch in Nevada a few years ago. I have often wondered just how the economy of Washington Park really works. Does anybody know how much of the city's revenue comes from strip clubs? There are nine strip clubs in Washington Park, and two of them (Hollywood, Hustler) are major Gentleman's Clubs. It is terribly sad that the mayor of Washington Park was murdered, and it must have been somehow related to the major industry of the town. (Is there ANY OTHER industry in Washington Park that draws dollars from outside the community?)
My condolences to those who loved and depended on John Thornton. And I sincerely hope his killer(s) is/are brought to justice.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/st…
I am sad to hear of the repeated bankruptcies of the village; and I was unaware that the Annual strip club License Fee was significantly reduced by the court. I was told in the mid-to-late 90's that the fee was $50k per year. I don't know if that's true, but it sounds plausible.
As far as revenue from the clubs (other than occupational license and property taxes) goes, I would think that sales tax would be it. I'm not an expert on IL taxes, but based on other states that I have knowledge of, the admission charge is probably not subject to sales tax, but the sale of beverages would be. I did a quick computation using some assumptions that I think are reasonable, and it appears that WP share of annual sales tax revenue generated by strip clubs might be around $100k.
Without understanding all of the operating parameters of WP, it seems doubtful that a town the physical size and population of WP could operate on less than $750k per year. While the club-generated sales tax may be significant, it could easily be more...a lot more.
Create a $3 per head admission assessment which goes directly to the village. The math goes like this, and it's based on what I think is probably a pretty conservative average: arbeeguy says there are 9 clubs (without looking I'll buy that), my perception is that Hollywood and Hustler have somewhat more customers than the others, so it's 100 customers per day for all 9 clubs and an additional 50/day increase for Hollywood and Hustler each. That gives us 1000 admissions per day for all WP clubs combined...average. More on weekends, less during the week...maybe.
So we've got 1000/day X 6 days/week X 52 weeks/year = 312,000 individual admissions to strip clubs in WP each year. At $3 each, that's $936,000. That might be enough to run the town...or more to steal.
Have they thought of this? I can't be the only one to think of it....
IL's sales tax scheme only yields 1% to Cities & 0.25% to counties (of the total base rate of 6.25%). However, they also have a complementary Use Tax that's imposed upon the privilege of using or consuming property purchased anywhere at retail from a retailer which basically offsets the seller's obligations under the sales tax...weird...
In the Washington Park area, additional taxes are imposed for county flood prevention (0.25%), the Metro East Park & Recreation District (0.1%), and the Metro East Transportation District (0.75%). Qualifying food & drugs are taxed in the Metro East Transportation District at 0.75%. A vehicle tax of 0.25% is charged in the Metro East Transportation District.
Use Taxes on general merchandise are at a rate of 6.25% and 1% for qualifying food & drugs. There's also an automobile renting tax of 5%. Newspapers & magazines are exempt from the IL sales tax.
https://www.revenue.state.il.us/app/trii…
I am concerned that at some point the county might get tired of WP's periodic bankruptcy filings and obtain a court order to consolidate WP village services with those of the county, e.g., fire, police, streets, schools and codes administration. If that were to happen, our source of ESL fun in WP could be outlawed since the county does not allow strip clubs in the unincorporated areas of the county. I don't know what the likelihood of this actually occurring is, but the trips to bankruptcy court can't continue indefinitely for WP.
I would think that the clubs would agree to collect the gate tax without challenge so as to preserve the(unsupervised)incorporated status of the village and assure that local rule would allow the clubs to operate...maybe there is more to all that than I am aware of.
My estimate of sales tax revenue from clubs assumed a 1% cut to the village. WP has a low retail sales base (other than liquor-by-the-drink at clubs) because they don't have very many retail businesses. I would think that property taxes could be even less due to a low aggregate valuation for real property in WP. Do they have personal property tax at all? The cars owned by WP residents might be worth more than their houses...I'd laugh, but it's too sad.
In Missouri, the current financial woes at the state level are due primarily to reduced retail activity statewide during this economic downturn, and thus, lower sales tax revenue. Real and personal property taxes set by the county (no state ad-valorem taxes in MO)runs a close second to sales tax in most subdivisions, so usually new retail activity is the focus of local economic development.
I might just call WP and ask them if they have thought of this gate tax - I'll wait a few more days so they can begin to put closure on last week's tragedy. I hope WP's prepaid cell phone isn't out of minutes....
You mean on property other than real estate? I don't think so...other than the "vehicle tax" from above, which I assume is just on vehicle purchases. I remember paying yearly taxes on my vehicle when I was younger in RI...it sucked, even driving a junker (like I did back then) was a ripoff, since the tax was basically based on "book value" if I remember correctly. I never saw what the property tax rates were in WP, but, like I think you've said before, it doesn't seem like there's much to tax in WP.
I think the main issue with taxing cover charges at strip clubs was that singling out strip clubs (and not just taxing all venues) for that kind of tax wasn't "fair", especially when it was meant to punish the strip clubs because they were considered to be "bad".