with poll: Washtenaw County commissioners slow to repay county for expenses deemed ineligible in audit

"Really, we haven't talked to anybody about it, and I have not given it thought over the last several weeks," said Board Chairman Conan Smith, D-Ann Arbor.

County Administrator Verna McDaniel said it's up to the board to decide whether to ask commissioners to repay the county. As far as she's concerned, her role is done.

"The work is complete by the auditors. That was my commitment," she said. "There is no other action from the office of administration that I'm taking. I feel that I've done my job because we have better procedures, we have checks and balances, and everyone is crystal clear on what's acceptable and what's not. So that was what I wanted to have accomplished."

Smith still hasn't reimbursed the county for the $591 in per diem and mileage payments the audit showed he improperly collected between 2005 and 2010. Expressing disapproval of the process, he said he's unsure whether he's going to repay it.

"Honestly, I don't know. I haven't done anything with it," he said of the issue, acknowledging he hasn't looked at the auditor's entire report yet. "I don't know if it's a lack of interest so much as just it's a low priority, given the other things we've got to deal with right now."

McDaniel's office initiated the audit of per diem expenses and mileage reimbursements for all 11 sitting commissioners last fall. The request came after allegations of financial misconduct were levied against Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R-Scio Township.

Ouimet, who left the board in December after being elected to the state House, cut a check to the county last month for $14,386 — the full amount of payments deemed ineligible in the audit.

Commissioners Kristin Judge, D-Pittsfield Township, and Leah Gunn, D-Ann Arbor, paid the $25 they each owed. Rolland Sizemore Jr., D-Ypsilanti Township, paid the $65 he owed.

The county has yet to receive checks from Commissioners Barbara Levin Bergman, D-Ann Arbor, or Wesley Prater, D-York Township, each of whom improperly collected more than $1,800, according to the audit by the Rehmann Robson accounting firm.

"That's my business," Bergman said, declining to comment on the issue. "That's between me and the county, so I just do not choose to discuss it."

Prater said he's still questioning the auditor's report.

"I'm kind of disappointed in the process because I believe it didn't really address all of the issues," he said. "I intend on paying back every dollar owed if they're ineligible. As of now, there are some that are in question in my mind."

Prater acknowledges he has at least some ineligible per diems to repay.

"In retrospect, part of it was my fault because, even though I turned the vouchers in in good faith, I didn't ask administration the question: Is this eligible?" he said. "So I didn't do that. That was my fault, and I take responsibility for that."

Three others who no longer serve on the board also owe the county money, according to the audit. At least two of them say they're planning to repay the county.

Ann Arbor Democrat Jeff Irwin, who now serves in the state House, said he'll pay the $100 he owes. And Ken Schwartz, who lost his county board race in November and now serves a new role on the Road Commission, said he'll pay the $1,055 he owes.

"I can say the people of the county got their money's worth out of me, and now they're going to get a little bit more," said Schwartz, who intends to run for office again in the future.

Saline Republican Jessica Ping, who decided not to run for re-election last year, still owes more than $5,000, according to the audit. Ping could not be reached for comment on Monday.

AnnArbor.com filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the full report from the auditor, showing which meetings were deemed ineligible.

• Click here to download a copy.

Tom Wieder, a local attorney who first raised the per diem issue at a county board meeting in October, said he isn't happy with how the process has played out.

He notes the audit didn't look at payments made to five former commissioners who served during the review period — between 2005 and 2010 — but were no longer on the board at the end of last year. He argues singling out the 11 sitting commissioners was unfair.

McDaniel responded to Wieder's concern.

"I realize that was an opinion of some, but there was no interest and no direction to go after non-sitting commissioners," she said. "So they weren't in the scope of the work."

Wieder claims the auditor's report was too generous with commissioners and deemed many meetings eligible when they shouldn't have been. He takes special exception with the fact that almost every commissioner claimed $25 per diems for attending Ways and Means Committee meetings — at least 673 meetings totaling $16,825, exclusive of mileage costs.

While technically a committee, Ways and Means is simply a meeting of the entire board under a different heading, Wieder argues.

"Per diems for committee meetings are eligible 'when the member has been properly appointed to that committee.' Of course, no member is appointed to the Ways and Means Committee, since it’s just a meeting of the board," Wieder said, calling it "offensive" to pay commissioners an extra $25, plus mileage, just to do "the most basic work of the board."

"If their $15,500 salaries don’t cover this, what do they cover?" he said.

Wieder also questions why commissioners have been allowed to collect per diems for meetings like administrative briefings and appointment caucuses.

Commissioners voted on new board rules last month, including a new list of meetings they can collect per diems for attending. Some commissioners wanted to put an end to per diems for working sessions and Ways and Means Committee meetings, but the county attorney determined it would constitute revising the board's compensation mid-term and would not be legal. So commissioners still can take those per diems should they choose.

Under board rules in place since last year, each commissioner gets about $3,500 a year for per diems, mileage and travel expenses.

After reviewing the auditor's report, Wieder said he thinks it contains several errors and inconsistencies, including instances where it was deemed appropriate for Ouimet to collect two separate $25 per diems for back-to-back meetings of the board and Ways and Means Committee on the same date.

The auditor also deemed eligible several instances where it appears Ouimet claimed separate per diems for attending multiple meetings of a single board on the same date:

• "WCERS Pre-meeting" and "WCERS" on July 25, 2007
• "WCERS Luncheon" and "WCERS" on Sept. 26, 2007
• "WCERS Planning" and "WCERS Board" Jan. 23, 2008
• "WFD Board Meeting" and "WFD Retreat" on Jan. 28, 2008
• "MPPP Review" and "MPPP Meeting" on Feb. 6, 2008
• "Road Commission - W/S" and "Road Commission" on Oct. 21, 2008
• "Road Commission Working Sess." and "Road Commission" on Nov. 18, 2008
• "Road Commission - Budget" and "Road Commission" on Dec. 16, 2008
• "Adm" and "Adm/Appointments" on Jan. 14, 2009

Ouimet said he couldn't speak to those specific per diems, but he said he relied on the auditor to make a determination and has repaid the county for any per diems that were red-flagged.

"I said I would pay the county back, and I did what I said I was going to do," he said. "The third-party independent auditor looked through it all and came to a number. I wrote a check that day and paid them. My focus is in Lansing now on working on the state budget."

The auditor determined Ouimet was eligible to collect per diems for attending meetings of organizations like MSU Extension, Washtenaw County 4-H and the Eastern Leaders Group. However, the auditor determined Schwartz's per diems for meetings of the Eastern Leaders Group were ineligible. No explanation for the decision is given in the report.

"I was under the impression that I was doing that for the county and doing that under assignment of the chair," Schwartz said of those meetings. "And that's why I took per diems on that, but apparently that wasn't the case."

Several commissioners declined to give an opinion when asked if they thought those who haven't yet repaid the county should be asked to do so.

"I have no comment," Gunn said. "It's up to each commissioner. However it works out, it works out. But I've paid my 25 big bucks, and I'm done."

Judge said she's more interested in making sure the county has solid internal financial controls in place, and the county is in the process of hiring a company to do an internal audit.

"I don't think there ever was intent by any commissioners to misuse the system, but there was an attitude within the county that commissioners were in charge and you don't question a commissioner," she said. "That's what I disagree with. We need to change that culture, and we're in the process of doing that."

County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum said he's disappointed that the board has not yet eliminated per diems, which he said are a "whole lot of hassle."

"The whole controversy demonstrates to me why there shouldn't be per diems for commissioners who already receive a salary," he said.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.