CROWN POINT | A mortgage crisis forcing more than 5,000 Lake County families into foreclosure in the past year and a half has a silver lining for Lake County officials.
The proceeds now are the source of a political battle over who should control money that resulted from the misfortune of county homeowners.
Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez has collected administrative fees for auctioning off a growing number of foreclosed properties in the wake of the subprime loan housing meltdown.
The sheriff's collections have grown to $1 million, more than enough money for him and other officials to fight over.
County Council President Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, said she will ask the council Tuesday to take that money out of the sheriff's hands -- a fund the council had previously earmarked for law enforcement expenses -- and use it to pay a number of pressing bills.
Dominguez is criticizing Cid's "negative political agenda." He said she would be dismantling efforts to fill a critical public safety need.
He said he must have the $1 million in foreclosure fees to leverage a $500,000 federal grant and a loan to purchase two new helicopters -- a total purchase price of $4.2 million -- to replace his two 37-year-old helicopters.
"If she accomplishes this, she will have to answer to the public," the sheriff said.
Cid said the ordinance creating a $200 fee for every sheriff's sale is fatally flawed because it doesn't reimburse the county for the use of its services and facilities for the sheriff's auctions.
There were 2,826 foreclosed homes auctioned off last year and another 2,400 in the first seven months of 2008.
The sheriff said the ordinance was properly crafted by attorneys for him, the council and the Lake County Board of Commissioners to earmark the fees for his use.
Dominguez said 19 law enforcement agencies in Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs support his plan to upgrade the helicopter fleet, which assists officers on the ground in searches and chases.
He said if the council derails his plan, the county will lose the federal grant and the cost of the new helicopters would jump by 20 percent.
