Wayne County treasurer outlines plan to correct decade-long errors in library penal-fines distributions

Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree told the county’s Ways and Means Committee that his office has identified a long-running miscalculation that misallocated penal and motor-vehicle court fines among public libraries and that staff are working to correct the errors and limit harm to libraries.

The error, Sabree said during the committee meeting, dates back about 10 years and resulted in some libraries being underpaid and others overpaid. Melissa Evans, the treasurer’s administrator for tax accounting, said county calculations found 21 libraries underpaid and 11 overpaid. Evans said the net effect of underpayments versus overpayments leaves “a little under $100,000” due back to the county but that a single library was overpaid by more than $1 million.

“There is a deadline within the statute,” Chief Deputy Treasurer Jeanvir Adams told commissioners, describing the statutory schedule for handling court payments. “The courts submit the payments directly to the treasurer’s office. We then disperse them to the public libraries before August 1 of each year.”

Evans said county staff began working with the state’s library liaison and legal consultants in 2024 to recalculate distributions for the 2024 year and then looked back at prior years. She said the state drafted a proposal for libraries but that not all libraries accepted the state’s approach and, at one point, the matter was “thrown back to us.” Sabree said the county is coordinating with Corporation Counsel (including Jim Heath) and the Library of Michigan to determine the correct fund to use for making adjustments.

Commissioners asked how affected libraries will be notified and whether they will be required to repay sums in a single lump sum. Evans said libraries already know their calculations from conversations with the state in December and that the county intends to provide official communication within 30 days so libraries can budget. Sabree said the county will work with libraries that cannot repay immediately to arrange phased repayments to minimize harm.

Several commissioners stressed concern for small libraries that operate on tight budgets. Commissioner Morecki asked if the county would look back 10 years; staff said they are working with Corporation Counsel to determine the proper look-back and the legal limits on recovery and repayment arrangements. Evans said staff are updating policies and procedures and that the corrections for 2024 distributions have been completed.

Evans described how the distribution formula works: combine penal and motor-vehicle fines, then divide by population to calculate per-capita shares. Sabree acknowledged that the miscalculation continued across successive staff and was not caught by audits or the state until Garden City raised the issue.

Next steps described to the committee include finalizing legal review with Corporation Counsel, sending a formal communication to affected libraries within 30 days, and working with libraries individually on repayment schedules so the corrections can be reflected before the libraries’ fiscal year ends.

No formal county vote on remedies occurred in the committee; commissioners asked staff to return with legal guidance and with communications plans for the Committee on Ways and Means.

Ending: Sabree thanked commissioners for their patience and said the county will continue working with the state and affected libraries to resolve the matter.