THORNTON | In pursuit of information about emergency medical billings, Village Trustee Paul Tomasik has enlisted the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law's Center for Open Government, which has filed suit against the village.
The suit alleges that the village violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act earlier this year when it failed to disclose specific information related to the billings in accordance with state FOIA requirements.
Tomasik wants the data to determine whether there is a disparity between the way Thornton residents and nonresidents are treated with regard to paying bills to an ambulance service owned and operated by the village.
The Center for Open Government filed suit this week in Cook County Circuit Court after the village allegedly failed to comply with his request. The lawsuit seeks release of the entirety of information that he requested.
"There is no legal reason or excuse for Thornton officials to withhold these records from Mr. Tomasik, a village trustee, who has a right to prompt access to information he requests in order to conduct the people's business," said Terrance A. Norton, director of the Center for Open Government and the attorney who filed the lawsuit.
Tomasik announced the suit on July 8, at the same meeting in which the Village Board voted to hire a collection agency to pursue outstanding Emergency Medical Services bills. Northwest Collectors, based in Rolling Meadows, will be in charge of collecting outstanding EMS debts going back as far as Jan. 1, 2009.
Tomasik said information he has gathered shows about 20 percent of people pay nothing toward their EMS bills.
"From what I can tell, from what little data I've been able to get, (it) is somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 a year are being written off on these ambulance bills," Tomasik said.
Village Attorney Scott Dillner advised the board not to discuss litigation in open session.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by the Center for Open Government, Tomasik completed a FOIA request on Feb. 2 to obtain invoice data for Emergency Medical and Extraction Services billed under the village code between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009; receipts for funds collected on those invoices; and accounts receivable data on all invoices open as of Dec. 31, 2009.
He also requested information on the zip codes and municipalities of those invoiced.
The village FOIA officer responded a week later and extended the time to comply with Tomasik's request because of the location and number of records needed.
After receiving incomplete information on Feb. 17, Tomasik contacted the village to find out why. Despite the existence of the requested information, he was told that the private billing company that invoiced for Thornton's ambulance services could not break down the information by zip code and location, the center said.
"The center exists for people, like Mr. Tomasik, who need help enforcing laws designed to make government transparent," said attorney Clint Krislov, founder of the Center for Open Government.
