TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Todd C. Lenzie, Interim Corporation Counsel
SUBJECT:
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Ordinance Amending the 2026 Annual Budget for the City of Joliet
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BACKGROUND:
The purpose of this ordinance addresses the concerns regarding the City’s former procedures for issuing and adjudicating overweight and overlength trucking citations.
Plaintiffs seek certification of a class consisting of all persons who, after January 1, 2015, received such a citation from the City, encompassing a multi-year period of potential claimants.
In the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Cammacho v. City of Joliet, 2024 IL 129263 the Court concluded that while Joliet, as a home-rule municipality, had the authority to utilize administrative adjudication, the City nevertheless failed to follow its own ordinances when processing certain “reportable offenses.”
The Court held that these offenses were required to be initiated by a uniform traffic citation and adjudicated in the circuit court rather than through the administrative hearing process.
Following extended litigation and negotiations with plaintiffs’ counsel, the parties reached a proposed settlement intended to fully resolve the consolidated actions.
To implement this settlement, a budget amendment is required to authorize the necessary expenditure.
The accompanying Ordinance provides for this budget adjustment within the current fiscal year.
CONCLUSION:
The purpose of this ordinance will authorize a budget amendment to allow for settlement of overweight-truck class actions litigation.
Approval of this ordinance will permit the City to resolve all claims asserted against it in these matters.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Based on the above, it is recommended that the Mayor and City Council approve an Ordinance Amending the 2026 Annual Budget for the City of Joliet.
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