Portage Township Assessor Crystal Millsap has kept her office's business personal property audit contract with The Leanor Group, a consulting firm owned by embattled Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele, even as Porter County officials question the high price tag. The arrangement, worth up to $150,000 per audit under the contract's fee schedule, has become a flashpoint during Millsap's bid against Republican challenger David Ondrovich.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Millsap entered into a new contract with Leanor Group on August 31, continuing fees of $100,000 for audits of companies valued between $20 million and $50 million, and $150,000 for companies valued above $50 million.
Porter County Councilman Red Stone asked county commissioners to direct their attorney to investigate what could be done about the contract, the newspaper reported.
County Says Its Hands Are Tied
County Attorney Scott McClure told commissioners the county has no legal recourse to block the township from using Leanor Group, per the Chicago Tribune's reporting. Stone nonetheless proposed that commissioners file a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the arrangement.
Porter County has used a different vendor, Tax Management Associates, for business personal property audits since December 2022, when then-Assessor Jon Snyder signed that contract after an earlier Leanor Group deal. Stone and county assessor Sue Neff have said the earlier arrangement was in line with rates charged by other vendors in the field.
An Email Chain Lays Out the Math
The TMA contract covers the entire county, Neff said, and remains available to Millsap for higher-valuation audits.
Neff told the Chicago Tribune in an October 7 interview that Millsap apologized for not asking before entering the Leanor Group contract. Neri resigned after being reelected and changing parties to take a job in South Bend, and Millsap was caucused into the assessor's office in May 2023, entering her own contract with Leanor Group that July.
Steele's Troubled Record Looms Over the Deal
Steele lost her March 2026 Democratic primary bid for reelection to the Cook County Board of Review, taking 37.7% of the vote to challenger Elizabeth Nicholson's 62.3%, according to Ballotpedia. Steele has also faced an ethics accusation concerning the Bears assessment dispute.
Steele was arrested in connection with a DUI case that remained pending as of March 2026. Separately, Cook County agreed in January 2025 to an $180,000 settlement resolving a wrongful termination lawsuit from a former Board of Review aide who alleged Steele fired him after he raised concerns about her undisclosed Indiana consulting work.
Election Context
Ballotpedia lists Millsap, a Democrat, and Republican David Ondrovich as candidates in the general election and lists their May primaries. The contract controversy surfaced during the campaign, adding a pointed backdrop to a down-ballot race that otherwise rarely draws this much attention.
