County treasurer refutes Holton clerk’s statements

Marathon County treasurer Connie Beyersdorff released a statement last week refuting comments about a tax levy error in the town of Holton that were published in the Jan. 13 edition of the Tribune-Phongraph.

At a Jan. 6 town board meeting, town clerk Jennifer Schreiber acknowledged that it was her mistake that led to the town’s tax levy being about $24,000 short this year, but she also said she went over the numbers with the county clerk and county treasurer before the town’s tax levy was finalized.

“They did not say one word about this being too low or too high,” she said, referring to the tax levy.

In response, Beyersdorff emailed the following statement to the newspaper: “The county treasurer reached out to Jennifer Schreiber several times and had conversations with her about what her levy should be for the Town of Holton. The county treasurer’s office does not accept the tax levy rate sheets without approval and signature from the municipal clerk. The statement of not reaching out to her is incorrect.”

Marathon County clerk Kim Trueblood said she herself does not deal with the local tax levies set by the municipalities, but she confirmed that Beyersdorff spoke to Schreiber about the levy issue. She described Schreiber’s statements as “factually incorrect” in a Jan. 19 email to the Tribune-Phonograph.

When asked for a reaction to the county officials’ comments, Schreiber said the following: “I never blamed either one of them for the error I made and owned up to. They have both helped me numerous times with things, to which I am very grateful.” Town officials addressed the tax levy issue again at their regular meeting on Jan. 13, and are working on a plan to deal with the shortfall, either through borrowing or budget cutbacks.