Treasurer takes blame for tax payment discrepancies

While an investigation into the matter is ongoing, Trempealeau County Treasurer Michelle Rose said she was responsible for the error that caused municipalities and school districts to receive incorrect tax payments.

During September’s meeting of the full county board, it was reported that the tax payments were off by about $3 million. At a special meeting of the county’s executive finance committee on Thursday, Rose read a statement in which she accepted responsibility for the error.

“The tax increment figures were wrong on my side, which caused the August settlement amounts to be off,” Rose said. “I offer my apology for this error and thank you for understanding and cooperation as we move forward.” 

She said the errors were brought to her attention by the other governing bodies, the settlement reports were reviewed and it was discovered that they were entered incorrectly. Rose said the error was immediately corrected. 

Rose said every governing body that didn’t receive enough money has since been provided the full amount, though she is still waiting for some who received an overpayment to issue a refund. 

The issue was brought to the attention of county supervisors at last month’s county board meeting. At that meeting, Supervisor Robert Baecker suggested Government Solutions, a company contracted to assist with the county budget, might be responsible for the error. Last week, he questioned Rose about whether the numbers she was given by the company were incorrect or if the mistake was made in inputting the numbers. Rose confirmed she was provided the correct numbers, but the mistake came when they were entered into the program.

Rose said the county will begin using new software that will make such an error impossible to repeat. 

Baecker complimented the other governing bodies for working with the county on the issue. 

“All have been very good to work with on this error,” Baecker said. “It’s nice when the whole county works together to fix a problem. Now it has been fixed and we can move on.” 

Rose took office at the start of 2024, replacing Laurie Halama. Trempealeau County Administrator Rebecca Glewen said Halama has been working in the office again and will continue to help until the end of the year.

“I think that is a good thing,” David Larson, committee chair, said. “Take all the help you can get.” 

County Corporation Counsel Susan Fisher said no further information would be available until the investigation is completed.

In other matters, the committee voted to forgo any penalties for people whose tax payments were sent through the United States Postal Service and received late by the county. 

Glewen said the county is still engaged in discussion with the post office regarding the issue and a resolution is still pending. She recommended the county waive the special assessment late fees on any payment that was delivered late by the USPS.

Supervisor John Aasen said some of the envelopes didn’t have postmarks on them so “We have absolutely no idea when they were stuck in the mailbox.” He relayed a story of getting a Father’s Day card a couple of weeks ago even though it was sent before the holiday.