SUTTONS BAY —
The cost of inflated mileage reimbursement checks paid to housekeepers at the Leelanau County Commission on Aging ballooned to nearly $100,000, an official said, and the exact amount of overpayments may never be known.
County Administrator Chet Janik previously estimated the inflated mileage checks paid to COA housekeepers was approximately $84,000 over at least six years. But Janik said Tuesday that auditors determined the county is liable for an additional $15,400 in back taxes that wasn't withheld from overpayments to housekeepers.
And Janik acknowledged the county likely won't be able to pinpoint exactly how much it overpaid because mileage reimbursement requests filed with the COA aren't even accurate.
"The records are impossible to go through," Janik said.
A county investigation found housekeepers who care for the elderly deliberately inflated their mileage reimbursement requests at the direction of former COA Director Rosie Steffens. The purpose of the inflated reimbursements was to help housekeepers cover the rising cost of gasoline, but the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners never authorized such payments.
Steffens did not benefit financially from the payments. But she and another COA employee, Madonna Jackson, retired because of the row.
Steffens said she did nothing wrong, and in a prior interview, said a former county administrator instructed her to authorize the inflated mileage requests. She told Janik the prior administrator was David Gill.
Gill appeared before the county board on Tuesday and denied any role in the mileage payments uproar.
"I never would ... condone a department head of this county to at best violate county policy, and at worst do something illegal," Gill said.
Gill later declined to answer specific questions posed by a Record-Eagle reporter.
One housekeeper came to the meeting to support Steffens. Mary Coste said Steffens should not have been forced out, and that Steffens is an honest person "with an honest heart."
"Justice for all," Coste said. "I don't feel Rosie got justice."
Janik and auditors said the Commission on Aging used an accounting software system that differed from one used by the county clerk and other departments. Auditors did not uncover the discrepancies with the COA records during audits because it relied on records within the clerk's system — not the COA's.
Authorities do not expect criminal charges to be filed. But housekeepers who received the overpayments will have to amend prior tax returns and could face additional payments to the Internal Revenue Service.
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Related Photos
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Former Leelanau County Administrator David Gill speaks during a special meeting of the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners Tuesday. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
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