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Richmond officials: rebate check mailings delayed after printing error; audit underway
Summary
City staff told Richmond City Council that a printing error produced misprinted rebate checks, triggering a stop-payment and an audit; officials said about 40,000 checks were held while the city reviews the mailing and will reimburse bank fees for stopped valid checks.
Richmond City officials told the City Council that a printing error produced misprinted property rebate checks, prompting a stop-payment, an internal audit and delays to mailing and distribution.
Sabrina Joy Hogg, interim chief administrative officer, said during the council meeting that “there was a discrepancy in the mailing that happened with the pay to the order of… several thousand checks were printed in the wrong form.” She said the director ordered a stop to the mailing and an audit of the process to ensure accuracy before further distribution.
The discrepancy led the city to place stop payments on the printed checks. Hogg said that pause meant some valid checks were “caught in the middle” and that staff expect to finish the audit analysis before resuming distribution. She said the finance office will reimburse bank fees for any valid checks that incurred stop-payment charges.
The city provided two aggregate figures during the discussion: the mailings relate to roughly 79,000 properties, and about 40,000 checks were held back during the stop-payment action. Hogg told council members the audit is “almost done with the whole audit analysis,” and that staff are awaiting actual numbers to finalize next steps.
Councilors who raised the issue were told to refer constituents with questions about a stop-payment or deposit problem to the finance office for assistance and reimbursement of bank fees. The council did not take any formal vote on the issue during the meeting; the remarks were an administrative update.
Sheila White, identified in the meeting as “the director,” was described by Hogg as the staff member who ordered the stop and the audit; White did not speak in the recorded excerpt.
City staff did not provide a timetable for when corrected checks will be mailed or exactly how many do-overs will be issued; Hogg said staff are “waiting for actual numbers to come back” from the audit. The council did not set a follow-up vote or directive in the recorded discussion.
The discussion occurred during the regular meeting and was presented as an informational update from city administration; no ordinance or budget action was recorded alongside the remarks.
