WINONA LAKE - With 82 days left in her term of office, Winona Lake Town Clerk-Treasurer Laurie Renier resigned effective immediately Tuesday evening before the town council’s 2024 budget review and public hearing.
Two of her three staff members - Teena Pence and Cindy Justice - who were at the meeting, stood up and announced they, too, were resigning effective immediately. The third staff member was not present at the meeting.
A caucus to replace Renier for the remainder of the year is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at Winona Lake Town Hall, according to Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee Chair Mike Ragan. Councilmember Heather James won the election this year to replace Renier as clerk-treasurer, but her four-year term doesn’t begin until Jan. 1. Ragan said Renier delivered her resignation letter to him after the council’s meeting.
Reading her resignation letter to the council Tuesday, Renier said, “Please accept this letter as notice of my resignation from my position as clerk-treasurer of the town of Winona Lake. I made a commitment to stay during the audit, as I was the only remaining employee that was here during the audit period from 2019 through 2022. I have been informed that the audit is still nowhere near completion, but the auditors have reached the substantial completion of the on-site portion of the auditing procedures. I have therefore fulfilled my obligation by being present and providing them with the documentation they requested. This resignation will take effect immediately.”
She told the council she forwarded all the budget information for 2024 that she received to Town Manager Craig Allebach and James to work on the 2024 budget. Baker Tilly helped with the budgets and presented the budget to the council for the last several years. She said Allebach and the former chief deputy had previously worked on the budgets with the clerk.
“I did not feel my input would be of much benefit. I realize that was misinterpreted as an unwillingness to participate,” she stated.
Her service to the community as clerk-treasurer began after the death of Kent Adams. He died Dec. 19, 2021, and a Republican caucus was held in January 2022 to replace Adams, with Renier being selected. Renier said she had known Adams for many years before he asked her to work for him in the town.
“Accepting the responsibility for the job myself was bittersweet but I navigated through the first year with the team Kent had put in place and trusted,” she continued. “The council, town manager and the other departments all supported me as I learned my new role. It was by no means an easy first year because I was not only new to the job, but the town also purchased the Miller Sunset Pavilion and began the process of making it operational. This was a huge challenge, but we got through the first season without any real plans for how we would pay for such an enormous obligation since the donations we were counting on were not sufficient to support the new rink. I had a ton of questions, and I feel like it was when I started asking questions that the support of me as the fiscal officer for the town drastically changed.”
When the chief deputy - who Renier said had taken care of all the financial responsibilities while Adams was in office and had stayed in that same position when Renier took office - quit abruptly, the council “did not hesitate to call me out at every public meeting for all the things I didn’t know.”
The utility clerk of many years was retiring, and Renier had a new employee who was just learning that job, she said. Renier then hired two more employees and the four of them learned all the functions of the office without any standard operating procedures or instruction manuals.
“We had no choice but to reach out for help. We worked with our software company on claims and payroll. The person who had just retired helped with utilities. We received training from other town clerks and spent countless hours researching and teaching ourselves how to do our jobs,” Renier said. “As we received the help we asked for, it quickly became clear there was not much in the office being done correctly. At every turn, we not only needed to learn how to do things the right way, but we had to find a way to correct what was wrong.”
Renier then listed some of the issues they found in the beginning were: fund numbers not set up or coded correctly, the budget was insufficient, the budget was not established for the ice rink, the town has 11 bank accounts but only two are accounted for in the town’s software, claims had been paid inconsistently, some bills were paid late and incurred late fees, invoices had not been submitted properly, the utility software did not identify where to apply payments, the payroll program had never been set up to function correctly, some employees insured had never paid their portion of the insurance premium, grant money was inappropriately managed, copies of grant paperwork and other employment files were not accessible and grant agencies were calling about reimbursement for noncompliance.
“These are all the significant problems that we found,” she said.
Renier said she shared her concerns with the council back in February, but the State Board of Account’s recommendation of how to go forward was ignored and funding she needed to help resolve some of the issues was denied.
“Not a single bit of grace was shown to me as I worked through the many issues. I was treated as if no one on the council knew the situation and I was publicly accused of incompetence and an unwillingness to do my job,” Renier said. “The council even called an executive session to reprimand me as an employee in February, which is not permissible under the law since I am elected to serve on the same level as each council member.”
Renier hired an attorney, which she said is statutorily allowed and was confirmed as an allowable expense by the state’s compliance director. The council’s refusal to pay her attorney fees and their assurance that they would not provide any additional services or support hindered her ability to effectively manage the town’s finances, she stated.
Renier said under these circumstances she was prepared to resign earlier in the year, but when the SBA contacted her and said they would be starting an audit in May, she made a commitment to stay until the audit was complete. She repeated that the audit is still nowhere near complete, but the auditors have reached the substantial completion of the on-site portion of the auditing procedures.
In conclusion, she said, “The lack of support and the hostility toward myself and my staff has carried over to other departments, town residents and the media. This has made it nearly impossible to serve the community as it deserves to be served. My obligation under these circumstances has been a strain on myself, my staff and our families for far too long. This, along with the last email from the council arguing with the State Board of Accounts and using just part of a statement I made as an excuse for their disregard for the law, is what has led me to my decision to resign. Resigning for these reasons is extremely disconcerting, but given the circumstances, I do not feel I have much of a choice. My resignation is effective immediately.”
The town council did not offer any comments on the three resignations but moved on to the budget review and hearing.
Winona Lake Park Board President Kristie Maiers asked if the 2024 budget was the same as 2023 with the understanding that the council plans to make adjustments in January. Rick Swaim said yes and they will make appropriations as needed.
Councilwoman Ashley McGinnis said she compared the 2024 budget to 2023’s. “So we’re rolling over the 2023 budget for the time being is the understanding, and we have to do that because the bank (reconcilations) are still not complete for the year, Is that the case?”
Allebach said that’s correct. The town has until Oct. 31 to get the first six months’ reconcilations in. If that’s the case, then the budget gains another $57,000 in its tax levy. If it’s not done, then it will remain as is, he said.
“It’s true what Kristie said and what you’re saying,” Allebach said. The 2024 budget is basically the 2023 budget, with the exceptions of items that are not property tax supported but are redevelopment general and the opioid settlement monies that are being appropriated to.
“So if there’s any additional monies needed in 2024 - obviously there will be because ... all of the departments have some needs and we’ll have to take it day by day once we get there,” he said.
The budget estimate total for 2024 is $6,109,532.