Kankakee Times

Roy Collins, who's charged with blatantly misusing Kankakee Valley Park District funds to garnish his own interests at the peril of his community, was recently indicted by a federal grand jury in Springfield for fraud and embezzlement.

Collins, the former Park District executive director, was indicted for misappropriation of department funds in September on allegations of using park district resources for personal purposes — including building a pond on his property, then falsifying accounts to cover it up.

The Kankakee Valley Park District now faces failure as its coffers grow unsustainable. Recently appointed Executive Director Dayna Heitz acknowledged that the department has been forced to “make deep cuts” in staffing to the potential detriment of area youth and department employees.

Beyond the perimeter of the basketball court, closures threaten area amenities such as a skating rink, dog park, campground and bike trails, plus more than three dozen additional parks.

According to Heitz, the problem is not simply an inadequate budget but a larger constellation of circumstances, primarily based on what the Kankakee Valley Daily Journal described as “the shadow of the Roy Collins administration.”

Collins was charged with using park district equipment, labor and cash for upgrades to his personal property; soliciting a contractor to perform the work and then coaxing the worker to bill it falsely to the district; purchasing supplies for his backyard pond; and even borrowing a district-owned lawn mower and golf cart to store at his property.

According to the indictment, Collins used $1,400 for water hauling to fill his backyard pond and $3,008 for a tarp or pond liner material.

In addition, the list included misallocation of funds for the park district and its affiliated Kankakee Valley Park Foundation (KVPF) — including approximately $6,000 in kickbacks from someone connected with local “BBQ Fest” events over the past three years. On top of the kickback itself, Collins is accused of having the individual misrepresent the payment’s purpose.

If that weren’t enough, Collins has been accused of making false representations to the Park District’s board regarding credit card purchases, allegedly using the district’s account for personal acquisitions, with the indictment averring that the former director used the district’s credit account to buy a $234.87 pair of boots from a store in Nashville, Tennessee.

With a budget stretched too thin, poor public profiling and subsequent ambivalence among potential lenders, the negative publicity surrounding this indictment has added salt to the wound of poor fiscal management.

According to the Daily Journal, Collins “oversaw a district that struggled to file annual audits on time, and kept sloppy books.”  Consequently, capital resources dried up as potential lenders shied away from helping the department with loans, driving it deeper into fiscal disrepair.

Collins, 46, served as director from 2011-16; he additionally acted as treasurer for the KVPF.

"At the end of the day, this affects the children," Kankakee Valley Park District Board President J.J. Hollis said.

Edgar County Watchdogs (ECW) remind constituents that an indictment is only an allegation and that no crime is proved prior to a trial and sentencing. If convicted — with counts citing wire and mail fraud — Collins could face up to $250,000 in fines and up to 20 years in prison.