(This story was updated with new information.)
At its Oct. 21 regular monthly meeting, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners voted 4-4 to pay the county’s October accounts payable bills totaling $1,333,431.63. By the Board of Commissioners’ bylaws, a tie vote equates to a no vote.
The bills included expenses from Sept. 22-Oct. 21 from Monroe County Health Department, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Jail and several other local agencies, according to attorney Joel D. Kershaw.
“The members of my firm are some of the many contractors who are not going to be paid as a result of the board’s decision,” Kershaw said.
No votes were cast by Commissioners Jay Heinzerling (District 4), Greg Moore (District 8), J. Henry Lievens (District 9) and David C. Hoffman (District 1).
Michael Bosanac, Monroe County administrator, said the bills will likely go unpaid until a vote at the next Board of Commissioners meeting on Nov. 4.
“The other option is if the board were to call for a special meeting, they would be able to again consider approval of the claims,” Bosanac said.
David Vensel, chairman of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, said commissioners voted no on the agenda item because of one bill in the package: Monroe County Indigent Defense’s legal services.
According to Monroe County’s website, “Monroe County Indigent Defense provides effective legal representation to Monroe County residents who cannot afford to pay for private legal counsel.”
“Some commissioners, and me included, are extremely frustrated with our indigent defense system and how claims are submitted and how claims are paid. That’s the main reason why some decided they would vote no on the claims report. We’ve had a lot of issues with that system the last couple years,” Vensel said on Oct. 23.
Vensel said instead of billing for work performed each month, some attorneys are submitting bills for work performed over several months.
“We asked, ‘How can you possibly bill that much?’ They explained it wasn’t for a month’s worth of work. It was bills that covered work that was done three or four months ago that they didn’t submit,” Vensel said.
Vensel said the board spoke to the attorneys in the past and asked them to submit bills in a more timely manner.
“We were given assurance that there were new protocols in place for billing practices,” Vensel said.
The fiscal year ended on Sept. 30. High bills from attorneys were again submitted to the board on Oct. 21.
“I was voted no due to the serious irregularity in some of the billings the last several months,” Commissioner Hoffman said. “We feel this needs to have important attention and needs to be addressed properly. Sorry it had to come to this extent, but I feel really confident this is going to be corrected very swiftly, and we will get our pay invoices back on schedule. You know as a commissioner we have the full responsibility of who, what, when and where, and we are protecting the taxpayers and making sure that the monies are being distributed properly.”
Vensel said it’s “unfortunate” that the board’s no vote means bills from the other local agencies also were not approved.
“It’s very unfortunate. The agenda calls for yes or no (votes). If no, there’s no turning back. The vote ended in a 4-4 tie. It goes down. There’s no recourse but to wait until the next meeting,” Vensel said. “I’m very, very hopeful we get this resolved at our next meeting on Nov. 4.”
Vensel said the Monroe County Board of Commissioners recently accepted a grant from the Michigan Indigent Fund, which pays part of the county’s bill for legal services for indigent people.
“Part of the grant was it will pay for a feasibility study and make recommendations on if we need to move to a different system, like a public defenders office. Within the next month, an independent firm will be doing their study,” Vensel said.
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Why did Monroe County Board of Commissioners vote not to pay the October bills?
Reporting by Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
