Sumpter Township Treasurer Morgan announces office is open

Sumpter Township Treasurer Peggy Morgan apologizes to the township residents for the board closing her office down after its emergency meeting on Oct. 30.
She said the office was reopened on Monday, Nov. 5, at about 11 a.m.
“I’m so sorry for the inconvenience it has caused residents,” she said.
“I also apologize to Deputy Vern Morse for how he was mistreated during his time of employment with me,” she said.
“He’s a wonderful man, willing to step up and was doing a fantastic job. The employees and public really liked him. The administration treated him like crap.”
She said her doctor questioned the stress she was under because it was affecting her health. The doctor asked her to get away from it for a while, because stress can lead to heart attack and stroke.
But, Treasurer Morgan said, she told her doctor she couldn’t leave the treasurer’s office at this time of year. But, when her heart started acting up, she remembered Supervisor Johnny Vawter’s stroke and Treasurer Alan Bates’ and Trustee Bill Hamm’s deaths due to heart problems.
“I didn’t want to be them,” she said on Tuesday morning, explaining why she had to take a few weeks off.
Treasurer Morgan said township attorney Rob Young told the board the treasurer’s office had to be closed without a treasurer or a deputy treasurer present.
She said she contacted the Michigan Township Association and an attorney there sent her the law and said there were only three days a year the treasurer had to be present at township hall to collect taxes and the treasurer makes her schedule the rest of the time.
Attorney Cindy Davis of the MTA wrote to Treasurer Morgan: “You are correct that the water billing assistant can accept taxes or receipt any other type of money payments on behalf of the treasurer’s office. Accepting and receipting money is different than accounting for tax payments in the tax accounting system. Only the deputy and treasurer should perform those entries or have an internal control system using assistants to process the work that provides for segregation of duties.
“The township board does not have authority to close your office, however they are the employer for the township and would have authority to authorize any employees including your deputy to act as your assistant with regular hours and compensation… If you or a deputy is unavailable, hopefully others would step up to help residents with questions as needed instead of just directing them to a closed office. However, every township handles these types of situations different and the board would need to decide what is in the best interest of the community.”
The MTA attorney also said in times of sickness, the deputy would normally step in fulfill the treasurer’s duties, but without a deputy, the treasurer could assign someone else to receipt money and deposit it in a secure place until the treasurer can retrieve, account and deposit it.
“Other employees can also deposit money, but they would have to give the deposit slips to the treasurer and clerk to account for and use some type of transmittal form for the treasurer to account for the money … probably very similar to the method the water billing assistant is using right now.”
Davis said whoever wins the election must take the oath of office for the remainder of the term. The winner can take the oath anytime after the clerk receives the election certification from the county clerk. She said Morgan would hold the office after the election until that oath is taken by her or someone else.
Morgan said she sent a copy of the lengthy MTA information to township attorney Rob Young on Monday evening.