County Credit Cards

Credit Card –
Undersheriff and James Dyer
Walkthrough and Documentation

Good afternoon,

Below is a summary of the timeline and steps taken regarding the credit card assigned to Undersheriff James Kiessel and the credit card assigned to James Dyer. These are two separate issues.

Undersheriff Kiessel

The Undersheriff provided a summary, which is attached for reference.

Based on in-person conversations with the Undersheriff, discussions with Finance Director Rio Risbridger and her staff, this is where we have all agreed the error occurred.

The Undersheriff’s credit card statement was provided to Finance on June 9, the day of the Executive Session (the day Jim Dyer was placed on leave), and it was handed to Account Clerk Clara. Upon receipt, the statement was placed in the file for credit card statements, as is their process.

Following the Executive Session (and where the error took place), this statement should have been included in Late Claims for the June 16 Regular Meeting. The statement was not included and remained in the file. This error resulted in the Undersheriff’s credit card balance going unpaid.

July 10: Upon receipt of the July statement, the Undersheriff learned of the unpaid balance, late fees, and interest. I was made aware on the morning of July 10. This occurred during an in-person conversation in the Administrator’s Office. I was provided a copy of the statement, and within minutes had brought Finance into the discussion.

The June statement was located, and all parties (Finance, the Undersheriff, and myself) were in agreement that it would go through July Claims and Accounts, and that all fees and interest would be covered by the Administration budget, not the Sheriff’s Office. Apologies were made to the Undersheriff for the error, with assurances that it would be handled through the Claims and Accounts process.

July 14 Executive Session: The credit card statements for both June and July were included in Claims and Accounts.

July 21 Regular Session: Claims and Accounts were approved by the Board of Commissioners, granting Finance the authority to process payment.

July 22: Treasurer Gallagher authorized electronic payment of Undersheriff Kiessel’s June balance (minus fees and interest, which were processed separately through the Administration budget) for a total amount of $1,489.31. This payment was made electronically to resolve the balance promptly. Otherwise, the Undersheriff’s card would have been paid by check, which is the standard process and would have taken a minimum of seven days, likely longer.

Because of how the Undersheriff’s credit card was originally established in August 2023, it is an account separate from the other Elan Financial credit cards held by Leelanau County. This means he exclusively holds the login privileges.

I sat in the Undersheriff’s office as a witness to the online payment, dictated and confirmed the account and routing numbers, confirmed the authorized payment amount, and obtained a copy of the transaction. Proof of payment was submitted to Finance for reconciliation and is attached here for your reference.

Obviously, this has garnered significant attention, and I want to make it abundantly clear to the Board of Commissioners that Finance acknowledges the error (and therefore I, too, acknowledge the error). This was not intentional. The Undersheriff was aware during each step of the process, communication occurred nearly daily, the process was transparent, and the matter has been resolved. I can say with confidence that it will not happen again.

Credit Card Reconciliation for James Dyer

Documentation Linked Here: All Statements and Reconciliations – Elan Financial – Jim Dyer

Friday, July 17: I was made aware that a hold had been placed on Jim Dyer’s credit card. A significant amount of time was spent reconciling statements, obtaining missing invoices and receipts, balancing credits, identifying underpaid balances, double payments, interest, and late fees. This work was completed in the Finance Department with the assistance of Chief Deputy Clerk Zywicki.

The reconciliation of these statements was critical. It was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort.

I was made aware Sunday evening, July 19, that a hotel reservation for Matt Ansorge and Kelly LaCross had been made using Jim Dyer’s credit card. As a result of the account freeze, an alternate card needed to be provided at the time of check-in.

I was not able to resolve the issue Sunday night. Matt Ansorge indicated to me that he had called Treasurer John Gallagher, and the Treasurer placed his card on the reservation. John Gallagher does not have a County credit card, so it was assumed that he used a personal card, making the reconciliation of these accounts and the release of the hold all the more urgent.

As a refresher regarding Leelanau County Board Policy regarding credit cards and payments: all payments and purchases must be verified, documented, accounted for, and approved. We do not make payments on a credit card without proper documentation. Each statement must be balanced. All information must reconcile. The policy is attached for your reference.

Administrator Dyer’s credit card was missing significant documentation. I spent much of Monday reviewing his email, searching through piles of paperwork, and contacting staff members in an effort to locate the missing documentation so Rio could complete the reconciliation and process payment.

I can assure you the urgency was palpable. I reviewed the reconciled statements with Finance Director Risbridger and Chief Deputy Clerk Zywicki. I agreed that the statements were reconciled and that an ACH payment should be initiated. This was determined to be the most expedient solution in order to lift the account hold and ensure a County card could be placed on the hotel reservation for two employees.

Treasurer Gallagher confirmed via phone with Attorney Matt Nordfjord that we could proceed with this transaction. The payment was made, and the hold was lifted from the account.

I then personally called the hotel where Matt Ansorge and Kelly LaCross were staying, updated the payment method to a County card, confirmed that the personal card used to hold the reservation had been removed, and confirmed that no charges would be made to the Treasurer’s personal card.

I then contacted Matt Ansorge directly to notify him of the update. I also contacted Treasurer Gallagher and Chief Deputy Lautner, who were made aware of the same.

Please hear me when I say: this account freeze was not an error by Finance. It was discovered, addressed promptly, and resolved efficiently.

The lack of documentation and reconciliation for this card (dating back to February 2026) breached County policy and created problems that required three staff members and three days of additional work to rectify.

The policies and processes the County uses to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure transparency to the public are in place to mitigate situations such as the one we worked through this week. I can assure you these processes remain intact, and each invoice, payment request, credit card statement, and transaction will continue to be verified, accounted for, balanced, and approved according to the processes established and approved by the Board of Commissioners.

Please review the linked documents. If I can provide any further clarification, I am happy to do so.

Elan Financial – Jim Dyer

Lauren E. Cypher
Leelanau County Interim Administrator