Illinois past-due fees since 2015 top $1B

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois state comptroller reports that the amount of late charges the state has incurred on billions of dollars in debt outstrips the amount accrued in the previous two decades.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza said in a report obtained by The Associated Press Monday that Illinois has run up late-pay fees of $1.14 billion since mid-2015. That's $100 million more than in the previous 18 years combined.

Illinois must pay 12 percent annual interest on bills not paid within 90 days. The backlog ballooned to $16 billion last summer after a two-year budget stalemate between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly.

Democrat Mendoza will release the report Tuesday. It's the first full accounting of debt and interest charges since she was successful in getting a law requiring state agencies to report their accrued bills monthly.

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