A substitute teacher owes City Hall nearly $200,000 for building code violations, fines and traffic tickets he racked up over the past 25 years, making him the single biggest debtor working for the city or its sister agencies.
A convicted bank robber landed an entry-level job with the CTA’s Second Chance program even though City Hall says he owes more than $136,000 in fines primarily for drinking in public and selling individual cigarettes near Douglass Park — a likely case of mistaken identity since he was in prison when police issued those tickets.
The operator of a West Side religious store owed the city more than $28,000 in water bills, but it didn’t keep her from landing a job as a staff assistant to a City Council member pushing Mayor Brandon Johnson to collect money from deadbeats.
They are among 12,761 people who work for the city or its sister agencies despite collectively owing City Hall more than $19.5 million for delinquent water bills, parking violations, speeding tickets, building code violations and various other infractions, according to data the mayor’s finance department provided to the Chicago Sun-Times under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Nearly 80% of those scofflaws have jobs with the Chicago Board of Education or the Chicago Transit Authority, owing nearly $15.7 million to the city, city finance records show.
When it comes to hiring, Chicago Public Schools and the CTA say they don’t turn away applicants who owe money to City Hall even though City Hall may later garnish their paychecks.
The CTA “does not consider debt owed to the city of Chicago when making hiring decisions,” the agency said in a statement. “Additionally, the CTA is unable to deduct city debts from employee paychecks without a court order for wage garnishment or if an employee voluntarily agrees to the deductions.”
Yet more than half of all city workers who owe City Hall money have never been enrolled in a payment plan with City Hall or had their paychecks garnished to pay their debts, according to a Sun-Times analysis of city records.
These employees owe a fraction of the $8 billion of unpaid debt that Chicago officials have failed to collect over the past 30 years, including $1 billion that has been added since Johnson took office in May 2023.
The push to sell city debt
As Johnson was pushing for new taxes and fees to balance his budget last fall, a majority of the city’s 50 alderpersons ordered him to explore selling at least $1 billion worth of debts, hoping it would bring millions into the city treasury.
It’s unclear whether any people or businesses will submit bids to buy debt owed to City Hall, everything from unpaid water bills to parking tickets, since the mayor’s finance department tells the Sun-Times that some of the debts could be owed by city employees who have died.
“Before we explore selling the debt, we have to go after scofflaws,” says Ald. Bill Conway (34th).
“When debts are owed to the city by its employees, we have mechanisms to address that,” he added, noting City Hall can legally garnish as much as 25% of an employee’s paycheck under state and city laws.
Johnson, who had to pay the city nearly $5,000 to settle his unpaid water bill and tickets while he was running for mayor, has repeatedly balked at having debt collectors hound people to pay their debts to the city.
Conway, a former prosecutor whose political career has been financially supported by his wealthy father, has a different viewpoint.
“It’s appropriate to pursue debt collection for people who have the means to pay,’’ he says. “The city does employ seven law firms to help with debt collection.”
Johnson’s finance team declined to discuss debts owed by any specific employee, but the department “regularly provides lists of outstanding debts to city departments and sister agencies,” the mayor’s deputy press secretary Griffin Krueger wrote in an email.
“Debts are tracked through the city’s collection systems and individuals are notified of outstanding balances and the available options to resolve them.”
CPS teacher’s tab? $197,052
For the past 17 years, Walter Lee Turner has been a substitute teacher for the Chicago Public Schools, earning $24.82 an hour.
During that time, Turner has owed the city of Chicago for a variety of unpaid debts — everything from building code violations on residential property he owns to unpaid parking tickets, city records show.
He owes the city $197,052, including $58,000 in penalties and interest, city records show.
Over the past eight years, City Hall has obtained eight garnishment orders against Turner, directing the schools to withhold money from his paychecks. It’s unclear how much the city has collected, partly because he keeps incurring new debts.
“They’ve been garnishing,” Turner acknowledged during a brief phone call. “I didn’t go to fight it because I owe a lot.”
Turner filed for bankruptcy last summer without the aide of an attorney. His petition doesn’t mention all the money he owes City Hall, all the property he owns or his failure to file state income tax returns.
On top of his debts to City Hall, Turner also owes Cook County nearly $20,000 in delinquent property taxes on his Chatham condo along with five other homes and a vacant lot in the city, and a pair of homes in Harvey, according to county records. Four of those properties weren’t disclosed in his bankruptcy petition.
A bankruptcy court trustee has asked the judge to dismiss Turner’s petition, just one of 13 bankruptcy petitions he filed since 1994.
Six years ago, Chicago Public Schools decided to stop disqualifying applicants who owe money to the city, maintaining those applicants need a job to pay their debts.
“A candidate’s debt to the City of Chicago is not among the factors considered when making a hiring decision at CPS. Instead, the District prioritizes a candidate’s qualifications, experience, and ability to support student success,” according to a schools statement.
City Hall’s finance department regularly combs the payrolls, looking for scofflaws who are collecting paychecks from the city or its sister agencies, attempting to collect debts through garnishments or payment plans.
In prison, but still ticketed. Why?
City Hall’s records show the employee with the second largest debt is Nikita Hampton, a 58-year-old man who holds a low-level job with the CTA after he spent more than 20 years in a federal prison for a string of 11 bank robberies on Chicago’s North Side.
Johnson’s administration provided the Sun-Times with records showing Hampton owes the city $136,000 — $75,450 in fines, $60,108 in interest and $1,320 in fees — from 34 citations Chicago police issued in his name between 2010 and 2019.
There’s a $200 fine for riding a bicycle on the sidewalk near Douglass Park on March 29, 2016. On July 18, 2017, there’s a $5,000 fine for selling loose cigarettes on the street near Douglass Park. On July 25, 2017, police issued a $10,000 fine to Nikita Hampton for selling loose cigarettes without a valid tobacco license on the sidewalk near Douglass Park.
Hampton was in prison when all 34 citations were issued in his name, likely his namesake son who was fatally stabbed three years ago. That’s difficult to confirm since the city redacted the birth dates and addresses from those tickets.
“No, that is not me,” Hampton said. “That must be somebody else. I didn’t get out until ‘23 so that’s not me.
“I don’t know how they got that confused with me. All you got to do is just check with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I went in 2003 and didn’t get out until 2023.
“I don’t need no problems with my job with the city, or none of that, because they got some wrong information.”
Although the city records show Hampton owes $136,180 the city hasn’t tried to garnish his CTA paycheck or enroll him in a payment plan.
City officials declined to discuss the Hampton citations, including whether they were issued to his late son or someone else.
A federal judge released Hampton from prison in December 2023. Seven months later, he got a job as a bus maintenance apprentice in the CTA’s Second Chance program. He was promoted to a train safety worker a few months ago, and now earns $23.93 an hour.
‘I’m on a payment plan’
Elizabeth Lockhart owed City Hall thousands of dollars for her water bill when she landed a $70,000 a year job in November 2024 as an assistant to Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), one of numerous City Council members pushing the mayor to collect money from debtors before raising taxes.
Mitts said wasn’t aware Lockhart owed the city money until she got an inquiry from the Sun-Times.
“I had no knowledge of that until I saw your email. I asked her about it and she said she’s on a payment plan,” Mitts said, explaining she doesn’t “have anything to do with the city on their hiring process.”
Lockhart is also executive director of the Healing Temple Church of God in Christ and owner of the Queen Liz Gospel Expression and Cafe in Oak Park.
When asked about her delinquent water bill, Lockhart said, “Why does the Sun-Times care if city employees owe money?
“I don’t owe the city money. I’m on a payment plan.”
Lockhart owes the city $28,621.64 for her delinquent water bill. She’s among 32 City Council employees who owe a combined $82,014 to the city treasury, but she is the single largest debtor.
“We have to make sure we’re doing everything to collect that money,” Mitts said. “I always thought everybody had to pay their bills.”
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