Bookkeeping error leads to extra cash for Macomb County

Charles E. Ramirez / The Detroit News

New Baltimore -- At a time when Macomb County is facing a shortfall, it just got a small windfall.

The state of Michigan has reimbursed the county just under $400,000 after a district court judge and his staff discovered a bookkeeping error.

"We caught it, the state agreed with us and has reimbursed us those monies," said 42-2 District Court Judge William Hackel. "That part is very nice. Getting a refund from the state is a very nice thing."

The court serves Chesterfield Township, Lenox Township, the city of New Baltimore and the Village of New Haven. Hackel was appointed the court's judge in July and took the bench in August. He succeeded Paul Cassidy, who stepped down from the position in May.

About six years ago, the state passed a law that changed how fees for filing civil cases and legal motions are supposed to be dispersed between the state and court, Hackel said.

The New Baltimore district court failed to take the new law into account in its accounting and the court kept sending money to Lansing monthly that should have stayed in its operating fund, he said.

"It's just something that perpetuated itself," Hackel said.

The court's bookkeeping protocols have also been changed to make sure the error isn't repeated, he added.

Hackel has informed the Courts & Legal Affairs Committee of the Macomb County Commissioners about the windfall, he said. He sent a letter explaining the state's reimbursement to the committee's chair and vice-chair, William Crouchman, D-St. Clair Shores, and Jeffry Sprys, D-Macomb Township.

The County Board of Commissioners will decide what to do with the money.

Macomb County is wrestling with a $15.7 million budget deficit for 2010 and another $16.5 million the following year because tax revenues are expected to plummet 10 percent next year and another 13 percent in 2011.

cramirez@detnews.com (586) 468-2905