Lawsuit between Madison County officials that cost taxpayers $100,000 reaches settlement
A legal dispute between two Madison County officials that cost the county $100,000 in legal bills has come to a close.
County board members voted at a recent meeting to agree to a settlement between Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler and Auditor Rick Faccin, ending a disagreement over access to county financial records that ultimately led to a lawsuit.
The board approved a measure to accept the settlement, 13-11, after a lengthy executive session, which will give Prenzler, County Administrator Doug Hulme and County Treasurer Chris Slusser access to the county’s financial data, including revenue and expenditures from the past 10 years.
Faccin could not be reached for comment on the settlement.
Prenzler said he wasn’t completely satisfied with the settlement, but counted it as a win for the county.
“I’m not completely happy with what we got but it’s in the interest of coming to an agreement and saving legal fees,” he said.
Phil Chapman, Highland-R, who voted in favor of the settlement, said in an email to his supporters that the lawsuit cost the county approximately $100,000 in legal bills, which is $20,000 more than what Faccin estimated the costs in late July.
Also in July, a tentative settlement had been reached to end the longstanding disagreement that started when Faccin restricted county officials from accessing financial information due to an ongoing investigation into the county administration.
The county board would later approve a resolution to grant administrators access to that information.
Earlier this year, Faccin said he felt “backed up against a wall” and filed a lawsuit to continue the restriction of the access. In turn, Prenzler and other county officials filed a counter lawsuit.
The latest agreement comes after an initial setback to the “tentative agreement” struck between Faccin and Prenzler that occurred in July.
The agreement needed county board approval, but that approval was delayed in order to give the county board’s attorneys more time to look into the settlement.
Both Faccin and Prenzler agreed to end the lawsuit and that reaching a compromise was in the taxpayer’s best interest.
“I’m trying to end it for the taxpayers’ sake,” Faccin said in July.
Prenzler said Monday that access to the financial data couldn’t have come at a better time as the county is now planning for the next budget year. He said it’s been three years since the county has had access to the budget software.
“It’s like flying an airplane without an instrument panel,” he said, describing planning the budget in the past years. “We’re anxious to get to work. “
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 11:39 AM.