County payments raise questions

Lincoln County’s financial controls are being reevaluated in the wake of the discovery of payments made to an outside law firm for work that was improperly billed, yet paid, by the Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder’s Office. The two questionable payments amounted to $2,307.16 of a total $11,265.96 billed during a span of 14 months.

County Commissioner Greg Larson said county officials are working to address issues in the payment processes.

“We’re making changes,” Larson said. “We’re looking at everything. Some things take time, but we are very conscious of our fiscal responsibilities.”

The confusion stems from two different bills from the law firm of Doney Crowley, P.C., a Helena-based firm, contracted by the Board of Commissioners to prepare and submit a petition to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Department of the Interior. The petition calls upon the agency to remove the grizzly bear from the threatened species list. The petition, Commissioner Mark Peck said, is a preparatory move that positions the county to be able to act as an intervenor in litigation using the grizzly bear as a reason to oppose, delay or prevent timber sales in Lincoln County.

The earliest bill the county has on file from this project dates back to July 2014. The bill, dated Aug. 12, 2014, details work from June and July 2014, totaling $1,035, on the grizzly bear project. The bill also includes a past due balance on the project of $2,266.66.

Wendy Drake, the county’s deputy clerk for accounting, said the charges, although never specified nor clarified by the firm, were paid because the former executive assistant to the commissioners, Bill Bischoff, signed off on the payment.

“To me it looks like there is a past-due invoice, so they must have worked in June or in the first week of July, and it’s just a past-due invoice,” Drake said Aug. 28. “Bill signed it.”

Drake said the bill was paid under Bischoff’s authority, even though it didn’t meet the county’s normal requirements for payment.

“Normally you’re supposed to have statements, but with attorneys sometimes it’s different,” she said. “I called Payne’s office to get the invoice, and I haven’t heard anything back, the lady said she was going to look, because, you know, you should have an invoice for it. I can call her again today, because I think I called her sometime last week.”

Drake said the past due balance was paid, even though the proper documentation was not received, because Bischoff approved it.

The second questionable line item was on a bill dated July 1, 2015. The item in question was a charge dated June 26, 2015. The county was billed $40.50 for 18 minutes of billed work by paralegal Jeri Hoffman, described as “Receive, review, revise draft letter to editor for Mr. Berget regarding Mr. Payne; discussion with same regarding same.”

Commissioner Mark Peck said he didn’t know why the county would pay a bill to have a law firm review a letter to the editor for a former commissioner. Berget left office Dec. 31, 2014, after being defeated in the primary election by challengers Mark Peck and Russ Bache. Peck went on to win the seat on the board of commissioners. After calling the firm, he said the amount was billed in error and was retracted.

Commissioner Larson said mistakes happen, primarily due to the large amount of payments processed by the county each month. He also said the commissioners are committed to making sure the proper controls are in place.

“We scrutinize things very closely, but when you’re looking at a sizable amount of claims you have to trust your people,” he said. “We’re definitely concerned about this and we are working to make sure we have proper documentation moving forward.”