Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler stated in a press release that Recorder Amy Meyer appears to have signed two no-bid contracts totaling more than $439,000 with Iowa-based Fidlar Technologies without going through appropriate purchasing protocols and two months before her position is consumed by the county clerk's job responsibilities.
“I heard Recorder Amy Meyer possibly signed contracts that didn’t go through the tax cycle or finance committees or county board,” Prenzler stated. “I had no idea what the contracts were for or how much.”
Board member David Michael raised concerns after fielding questions from other board members about rumors of the contracts being signed without notice to the county board.
“Of course, as a member of the Board, the major concern is that we are being locked into a contract that is not within the current fiscal year’s budget and that is also not planned for in the administration’s future budget proposals," Michael said. "Assuming this is the case, then this is an unprecedented lack of transparency and honesty from an elected official, as I specifically asked about this potential contract in the Real Estate Tax Cycle meeting and was not informed that the contracts had apparently already been signed.”
Meyer has not responded to a request for comment.
The Recorder’s Office will be combined with the County Clerk’s Office beginning Dec. 1. The merger was approved by voters in 2018.
“She is walking out the door and signing contracts that we haven’t seen,” Prenzler stated.
Prenzler called Meyer on Oct. 8 and requested copies of all contracts signed this year through the Freedom of Information Act. He followed up with an email, according to the press release. He says that as of Oct. 20, he still had not been provided with copies of the contracts.
Prenzler stated that his administration contacted Fidlar Technologies on Monday and was told that Meyer signed two contracts on Oct. 2 in the amounts of $181,347.79 and $258,328. He called Tuesday and asked again to see the contracts.
“The vendor told us the contracts were signed,” he stated. “The administration should not be forced to FOIA this sort of information.”
Michael, who is running for auditor, brought up the issue at the Oct. 14 Finance and Government Operations and Real Estate Tax Cycle Committee meetings.
“I think the recorder is playing hide-and-seek with us and that is just unacceptable,” he stated in the press release.
During the Oct. 14 meetings, Michael asked if there were talks of a $500,000 contract with Fidler. Meyer was not present at either meeting to answer his questions, and the Recorder’s Office employee present in her place said it was not for her to discuss.
Michael also asked if the Recorder’s Office received $200,000 in credits from Fidlar Technologies, which was confirmed. He then asked why the office received a credit rather than have Fidlar remit the payment so the committee would be in the loop.
“I’m a little concerned because that’s circumventing the normal approval process,” Michael said.
Real Estate Tax Cycle Committee Chair Phil Chapman said he was disappointed that the committee was not aware of any possible contracts with the Recorder’s Office prior to the meeting.
Chapman added that Meyer presented the committee with a $500,000 contract with Fidlar earlier in the fiscal year for digitization, but the committee voted against it at the time.
“An expenditure of over a half million is a huge amount of money,” Chapman said.
He thanked the Recorder’s office employee who was present at the meeting and answered the questions she could.
“You’ve been asked to pinch hit in a difficult situation about perhaps some negotiations that have been going on that you are not fully aware of.
“I appreciate you doing the best that you can with this without the full knowledge about what is happening,” he said.
Michael also raised the issue at the Finance and Government Operations Committee.
Committee Chair Don Moore said they voted against the Fidlar contract earlier in the fiscal year and asked if there is a resurgence of the topic.
Committee member Tom McRae echoed Michael’s concerns, saying it wasn’t in the budget for 2020, and the 2021 budget hasn’t been approved yet. He suggested that if an office holder is signing contracts before walking out the door, then the county shouldn’t approve the payments.
Auditor Rick Faccin agreed to look into any possible contracts and said one possibility would be to reject the payment requests.