Aug. 20 -- The Coloma Township Board has sold the former U.S. Bank building it purchased in 2023.

The township finalized the sale of the bank Tuesday, selling it for $528,000, Supervisor Kristine Dobbs told Shaw Local. Dobbs was not able to disclose who it was sold to, and those documents have not yet been filed with Whiteside County, according to the recorder's office.

In February 2023, the Coloma Township Board approved the $250,000 purchase of the building at 300-302 First Ave. in Rock Falls. With the purchase turning the property into a government-owned building, the township, under the Illinois Constitution, would be exempt from paying property taxes.

For government bodies to get that exempt status, they have to file paperwork with the county. The paperwork is then sent to the Illinois Department of Revenue for approval. Sindy Sotelo, who was the Coloma Township supervisor at the time, did not submit those forms until November 2024, but she had been emailed those forms twice by Whiteside County Supervisor of Assessments Robin Brands in April 2023 and July 2024, according to county records.

Since Sotelo failed to submit the forms until after the 2023 tax bill was mailed to the township, the township paid a total of $7,851.12 in taxes. On top of that, both installments of the taxes were paid late, so the township also paid $117.76 in fees, according to county tax records.

During the township's Aug. 13 board meeting, Coloma Township Assessor Dave Hand said that in an effort to get the tax money back, he had talked with Brands, who "thought that it was unfair" and worked with the tax board "to get that back for us."

Hand announced at the meeting that the township had received a full refund from the county for those taxes -- a total of $7,968.88 -- which Brands has confirmed.

Sotelo and members of the previous board resigned in February. After that, the township used a road district loan to cover payroll and operating expenses, started trying to locate countless missing public records, and dealt with many past due bills in need of immediate action, township records show.

Also at that time, residents and current board members expressed concerns about debt incurred from the bank building, which a majority of them said they didn't want to buy in the first place.

Trustee Becky Williamson was a resident of the township at the time of the purchase. Williamson said many people thought the building needed too many renovations and would be too expensive. Resident Mike Charleston agreed, saying that he didn't want to buy it either.

When making the purchase, Sotelo hoped to use the building for offices and to expand community services, but after spending almost all of a $200,000 line of credit taken out by the township, more renovations were needed in order for it to pass a city inspection, according to Dobbs and city records.

It has sat vacant since.

In total, the township invested about $457,000 into the building under Sotelo's leadership, according to Whiteside County documents.

Dobbs said at the April 8 annual town meeting that it costs the township about $60,000 annually to own, and it would cost about $40,000 to complete the needed renovations.

Combining that with the shear size of the building -- 15,616 square feet -- the board voted unanimously at that meeting to sell it.

[ Coloma Township Board votes to sell former US Bank building amid rising costs ]

State statute mandates that the township sell the building for at least 80% of its market value. In 2022, Cornerstone Realty Advisors estimated its value at $210,000, according to county records.