GREENWOOD TWP- On the now familiar 3-2 vote, the Greenwood Town Board voted Tuesday to put “Option B” on the March 11 township election ballot once again. The measure would allow the town board to appoint a clerk and treasurer, which would eliminate those jobs as elected positions. Township residents voted on this exact same option back in 2020 and 2021, and both times the measure failed by a two-to-one margin.
The motion to put the question back on the ballot later this winter passed with only a brief discussion, with supervisors John Bassing and Rick Stoehr voting against.
“I will not take away anyone’s right to vote,” said Bassing.
Chair Lois Roskoski explained how this would affect the treasurer seat, which is up for election in March, and the clerk seat, which doesn’t expire until March 2026. If voters approve the measure, whoever is elected to the treasurer seat would likely serve for a short time until the board hires a treasurer. The clerk would serve out the remainder of that term, and then the board would hire a replacement effective March 2026.
“The person hired can be from anywhere,” Roskoski said. This opens the applicant pool to those not living in the township.
In 2020 and 2021, the issue came up when a majority of town board members wished to have more authority over the clerk. As elected officials, both the clerk and treasurer set their own work hours and have the authority to appoint their own deputies. Neither are under the direct authority of the town board.
When the measure did not pass the second time, the board voted to cut the pay of the clerk Sue Drobac, who then resigned.
This time, the impetus for the change seemed more focused on the inability of the treasurer and clerk to work together to make sure the financial accounts overseen by each office match. The board had hired former treasurer Pam Rodgers to go over the clerk’s financials and make sure they were accurate. Rodgers has completed that work, but the treasurer’s monthly financials are still not totally in accordance with the clerk’s. Some of this appears to stem from different accounting methods, with the clerk counting checks that were mailed out, but hadn’t cleared the bank account, while the treasurer was working off the actual end-of-the-month balance on the bank statements. The two also seem to be working off a start of the year balance that differs by about $10,000.
Treasurer Jeff Maus, who had informed the board he was home recovering from hip surgery, was not at Tuesday’s meeting. Deputy treasurer JoAnn Bassing attended the meeting in his place.
The board again expressed its displeasure that the treasurer’s report was not available prior to the meeting.
“We’ve been asking the treasurer all year to get us this information in a timely manner,” said Paul Skubic.
“I prefer to see them early,” said John Bassing, “but really want to see them done right.”
Maus has repeatedly told the board he sometimes has difficulty getting all the financial statements, specifically the information on the township’s CD investments, from the previous month in time to get the information to the clerk five days prior to the meeting, which is the second Tuesday of the month. He has stated he will not give out a report until he is sure the information is accurate.
Roskoski again stated that the clerk and treasurer need to be working together, so their financial statements match.
“We will have to call for an audit if the books are not matching at the end of the year,” she said. Such an audit would cost as much as $30,000, she said.
The board also discussed what to do about the township’s CD investments, which are maturing this month.
“The treasurer should be managing our cash flow and investments,” said Roskoski.
The township’s treasurer position has not historically taken on these roles, and these are not part of the township treasurer duties prescribed by state law.
The board discussed letting the three smaller CDs, for capital spending that are not needed in the near future, to rollover, but want to look into the idea of splitting up the larger (jumbo) CD so it all doesn’t come due at the same time, giving the township more flexibility to access the funds.
The vote to approve the monthly treasurer report failed 2-3, with Roskoski, Craig Gilbert, and Skubic voting against. This past year, the board has regularly left the treasurer’s report unapproved at their monthly meetings.