By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Hill County Commission convened on Thursday morning for their regular monthly meeting and unanimously voted to support Auditor Kathy Olson’s recommendation to deny approval of a claim of $4.87.
The claim was for the Great Northern Fair’s monthly Verizon phone bill, which was under $5 due to a credit with the account.
Olson said that the proper claims process was not followed, as it was given to her office on the day it was due and was fulfilled via auto-pay.
Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong argued that using time and resources on reviewing a claim of just a few dollars is simply not worth it.
The issue was discussed for about 30 minutes on Thursday, and it was clear the the County had spent a significant amount of time on this issue prior to the meeting.
Treasurer Sandy Brown admitted that the claim should have been sent to Olson’s office sooner, but said she believed the process had been changed to allow for auto-pays following meetings with then-Deputy County Attorney Brian Lilletvedt, who retired at the end of April.
Armstrong agreed, adding that there was a draft created of a plan. However, Olson and the Commission said it was never finalized or approved by them.
Commission Chair Diane McLean said they spoke with Lilletvedt about it but a process for the procedure was never completed.
Brown said it makes sense for monthly bills for things such as utilities and phone bills to be on auto-pay, and Armstrong said it doesn’t even necessarily have to be done through the claims process.
Olson and the Commission said that even auto-paid bills need to be pre-approved by them in advance of payment being made.
Commissioner Mark Peterson said he wants to view things before they are paid and that he was “disturbed” by the “circumvention” of normal procedures.
Although the claim was denied, it has already been paid. It is unclear if the Commission will request the funds back, and if they do, it is unclear what would happen.
