Attorneys for a land developer say the Village of Hawthorn Woods has the money but refuses to pay a court judgment that has grown to more than $8 million, costing taxpayers more than $1 million in interest.
The developer, PML Development LLC, co-owned by Dan Powell, purchased a 62-acre site off Kruger Road in Hawthorn Woods in September 2012 and operated it as a dump for clean fill.
PML had an agreement with the village, signed in October 2012, to compact and grade the site before transferring ownership to the village for just $1 so it could be used for a municipal purpose, according to Fox Rothschild attorney Jeffrey L. Widman, who represents PML.
The conflict between PML and the Village of Hawthorn Woods began when the village “repeatedly interfered” with PML’s operations, Widman said.
Widman said the village issued numerous stop-work orders and attempted to control how PML ran its business.
“This interference led to nearly 10 years of litigation,” Widman said.
PML sued the village in Lake County Circuit Court in May 2015, accusing it of interfering with the project and driving up its costs.
The village countersued, alleging PML failed to repair Kruger Road, pay property taxes on the site and fund an account for the village’s expenses.
Lake County Judge Luis A. Berrones ruled in November 2020 following a 10-day bench trial that both sides had breached the agreement but the village breached it first.
He awarded PML about $5.3 million in damages plus attorney fees.
An appellate court threw out the judgment in 2022 but the Illinois Supreme Court reversed that decision in 2023 and sent the case back to Lake County.
Berrones re-entered judgment for PML in March 2024 for $5,349,677.70 in damages and $1,574,450.34 in attorney fees and costs, offset by $408,000 awarded to the village, for a net judgment of $6,516,128.04.
Widman said that typically when an entity loses a lawsuit and appeals, they must post a bond to ensure the winning party is not left empty-handed if the appeal fails.
Illinois Supreme Court rules allow judges to waive that requirement when a government body appeals.
The village’s attorneys said in a March 2024 motion asking the court to waive the bond that PML “will not be prejudiced” because the village “is an Illinois Municipal Corporation and has ways to satisfy the Judgment, if it is affirmed.”
Berrones granted the request in May 2024.
“So PML had no security for the judgment during the appeals. Now that the appeals are exhausted, the village claims it lacks the assets to pay the judgment,” Widman said.
The appellate court largely upheld the judgment in March 2025, reducing PML’s damages by $268,223.70.
It awarded PML another $874,565.50 in attorney fees in June 2025 for the appeals and remand proceedings, bringing the final judgment to $7,122,469.84, with most of it accruing 6% annual interest since March 2024.
The Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear the village’s appeal in September 2025.
PML served the village in October 2025 with a citation to discover assets, which requires a debtor to disclose its assets.
The village objected to every request and asked that the citation be dismissed, saying municipal property cannot be seized to pay a judgment under Illinois law.
The village is relying on an Illinois appellate court decision from the early 1990s, known as the DeBow case, that Widman said protects assets essential to a municipality’s operations, such as police cars and fire trucks, from being seized to pay a judgment.
“The challenge is that the law is unclear about which assets are considered ‘necessary’ for a municipality’s operations. That’s the central issue the court is now facing,” Widman said.
PML asked Lake County Judge R. Christopher Ditton, who now presides over the case, to sanction the village in December 2025.
Widman said in the motion that the village was relying on the same DeBow case it had cited in 2024 to assure the court it could pay.
Ditton ordered the village in January to answer the citation.
The village sought an emergency order in February to stop PML from garnishing its bank accounts.
Ditton blocked the garnishments but barred the village from moving money out of its accounts outside the ordinary course of business. He later granted the sanctions motion.
Widman said the village produced a list of 29 accounts it holds at six financial institutions.
Hawthorn Woods Chief Financial Officer Katreina Koprowski testified under oath on May 1 that the village had sold an unrelated village-owned parcel of land in July 2025 for about $105,000.
PML filed a motion for turnover on May 19.
Widman said in the motion the village was holding more than $9.2 million in non-pension bank accounts and had projected a surplus in its 2026 budget without budgeting a dollar toward the judgment, which by then had reached $7,997,506.99 and was accruing about $1,170 in interest per day.
“The Village has the money. It simply refuses to pay,” Widman said.
PML asked Ditton to order the village to turn over all of its non-exempt funds and, if that fell short, to compel it to issue bonds or levy taxes.
Ditton awarded PML $107,824.53 in fees tied to the sanctions following a hearing in July and ordered the village to turn over the $105,000 from the unrelated land sale.
The judge also ordered the village to present a referendum to voters for whatever balance remained.
Widman told Ditton at a hearing on September 11 that the judgment now exceeds $8 million and accused the village of “thumbing its nose at our client, thumbing its nose at the Court.”
“He’s been fighting this village for over a decade. His business collapsed because of this,” Widman said of Powell.
Hawthorn Woods village attorney Adam B. Simon of Ancel Glink said PML “has a fundamental misunderstanding of public finance.”
“We are not a commercial enterprise. We are a municipal corporation, and there are different funds that hold money for different purposes, and are legally required to use them for that purpose or legally restricted from using it for other purposes,” Simon said.
Simon said the general fund held about $4.5 million at the start of 2026 and village policy calls for a reserve equal to half the following year’s budget.
He said the village has only $300,000 to $400,000 in unencumbered cash after the $105,000 land-sale payment, a $700,000 emergency culvert replacement and a projected $3.4 million shortfall for capital projects over the next five years.
“They can’t hide behind potential pothole problems and playground problems and anything else that may or may not occur, when today they have a legal obligation to satisfy this judgment,” Widman said.
Ditton went through the village’s funds one by one, saying the motor fuel tax and special recreation funds appeared to be restricted by law.
PML agreed to set aside the park donation fund for now but Ditton questioned whether money that sits in other funds for years still serves a municipal purpose.
Simon said the village’s sewer fund, which holds about $3.3 million, exists to replace sewer mains when they fail.
“We can’t be forced to give all the money away and then borrow and ask for a referendum every single time something breaks,” Simon said.
Ditton ordered the village to turn over $2.1 million from its general fund, $150,000 from the capital improvement fund, $300,000 from the community development fund and $1.4 million from the sewer fund, for a total of $3.95 million.
He said he left the village a cushion in its general fund near the 50% reserve it had requested.
Ditton said that “as a court, I can’t consider public policy arguments.”
“I understand the financial picture of it. I understand that that could impact the residents,” Ditton said, adding that he could not take that into account.
Ditton gave the village until October 16 to turn over the money, saying the deadline gives the village time to decide whether to appeal.
Widman said PML would insist on a bond this time and Ditton said he would be inclined to require one.
No notice of appeal had been filed as of Wednesday, according to court records.
Simon told the court the village intends to ask voters in April 2027 to approve bonds to pay the remaining balance and that the village board’s November 23 meeting is the last one at which it can adopt a resolution putting the question on the ballot.
Ditton also required the village, in a written order on September 14, to provide PML with the proposed referendum language by October 16.
Widman told Lake and McHenry County Scanner on Wednesday that PML conservatively calculates the amount owed at $8,042,370.67, with the $105,000 payment being assumed to have been applied toward interest.
Interest on the judgment has totaled more than $1 million based on figures Widman provided.
More than $4 million would remain unpaid even if the village pays the full $3.95 million, with interest continuing to accrue until voters decide the referendum.
“We are pleased the Court is holding the Village accountable, but it is deeply troubling that Hawthorn Woods continues to defy the judicial process by refusing to pay what it owes,” Widman said after the ruling earlier this month.
“The residents of Hawthorn Woods deserve to know that the Village’s refusal to accept responsibility is only making matters worse — interest continues to accrue daily, and it is the taxpayers who will ultimately bear the cost of this failed strategy,” Widman said.
When presented with a list of questions from Lake and McHenry County Scanner, Hawthorn Woods Chief Operating Officer Pamela Newton said this week that the case is still pending in court.
“The Village does not comment on active litigation,” Newton said.
A status hearing is scheduled for October 19.