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Sue Patterson for Madison Clerk-Treasurer, Madison, IN (2026)

05/01/2024

5/2/2024 Update: Good news! After escalating our FOIA request to Mayor Courtney, the documents regarding payments to Reedy Financial I requested in January of this year are now in my inbox.

I will take time over the next several days to review the documents and share what I find. I will also continue to advocate that all City financial documents be shared online on the City's website in a timely manner, and that all reports be filed on Gateway by their stated deadlines as well.

Original Post: I continue to review the City of Madison's financial information. Each year, municipalities and other units of government are required to file an annual financial report on the Indiana Gateway System for Indiana's State Board of Accounts. This should have been filed by February 29 of this year.

It is now May 1. That report has not been filed. By my count, 90% of other reporting units have filed their respective reports. Madison is in the minority.

This is the second time that the City of Madison, under Katie Rampy as Clerk Treasurer, has not filed this report in a timely manner. Katie has never filed this report on time.

Last year, Ms. Rampy did not provide many aspects of the financial reports until the State auditors arrived in Madison. These reports, account reconciliations, accounts payable registers, are to be filed monthly. Not handed to the auditors as they're walking in the door.

In the Madison Courier article detailing her resignation, it was reported that Ms. Rampy would stay through May to provide continuity to the next Clerk Treasurer, who will be determined by Republican Caucus this Sunday.

My question is why? She clearly does not know how to do the job. And even after 286K of taxpayer money was spent to 'educate the Clerk Treasurer on the responsibilities of her office' she still doesn't know how to do the job correctly. Why was she chosen to fill this position when Rick Berry resigned and why is she continuing to be supported even after she has chosen to vacate the position?

As a reminder, I asked on January 12 of this year to see detailed invoices and the accompanying documentation of what services were rendered, and what accounts that 286K came from, and have yet to see one document other than the 8 page contract between the City and Reedy Financial (that took them almost 3 months to deliver).

Additionally, the local Democratic Party and I had to file a complaint with the Public Access Counselor to get a response to the October request of financial reports by County Chair John Hutchinson.

This does not a transparent government make. It is important that this information be made available on a regular basis, online on the City's website.

It certainly gives an air of impropriety when it takes nearly 90 days to produce an 8 page document that should be able to be attached to an email in 90 seconds. That air of impropriety is made worse when the request was made during an election cycle.

I certainly hope for the citizens of Madison, including my sweet grandson pictured below, that this next Republican-chosen Clerk Treasurer is able to perform these duties.

Democratic Party of Jefferson County Indiana
Jefferson County - IN Democratic Alliance

04/19/2024

Hello! Kelly and I wanted to check in with more updates about the financial documents I've been requesting from Katie Rampy, Madison's Clerk Treasurer.

In October 2023 I made a Freedom Of Information Request to see the contract between the City and Reedy Financial, an accounting firm out of Indianapolis and Seymour. I also asked for copies of any reports that were made by Reedy Financial.

Finally in January, Mindy McGee, Deputy Mayor (not Katie Rampy, Clerk Treasurer, to whom the request was made), sent me the contract I had requested in October. There were, however, none of the supporting documents I had asked for.

What I DID learn is that the City spent $286,000 between 2022 and 2023, to 'educate the Clerk Treasurer on the functions of the office.' This is in addition to the approximately $60,000 that the City paid Katie in salary. She has since gotten a 10% raise for 2023, and then additional 5% raise for 2024.

I filed another request on January 12 to follow up on the supporting documents. I asked for copies of invoices and the supporting documentation for the invoices, and to know which fund all of this money to Reedy Financial came from.

In my opinion, it should not take 90 days to share these documents after a request has been filed. Especially from a City Hall that claims to be transparent and responsive.

Jefferson County - IN Democratic Alliance
Democratic Party of Jefferson County Indiana
Sue Patterson for Madison Clerk-Treasurer

01/06/2024

Hello, ! I hope you all had a great holiday season and are having a wonderful start to your new year.

I have had a nice break after a long campaign season. I don't plan to do that again anytime soon. But I do believe in educating voters on current affairs, and that is what I will continue to do on this page.

I finally received an answer today to my public records request to the City of Madison asking them to share details about their contracts with CPA firm Reedy & Associates. The answer came from Deputy Mayor McGee, and not Clerk Treasurer Rampy. And, just as a refresher, I sent my request via email to Ms. Rampy at the beginning of October.

Be on the lookout for a post soon about the details of the information I received. My numbers crunching got interrupted by this guy!

11/08/2023

I want to start out by thanking my fellow Democratic candidates for all their hard work and support. This campaign would have been miserable without their company and their ideas. Thank you, Dan Dattilo for Mayor of Madison, Indiana, Pete Backus, Jennifer Scott, Ed Stigall, Jr., Mary Ann Eaglin, Christian Bowyer, and Derek Hughes.

Each one brought their own special talents to the race, in addition to their care and understanding.

I want to give a special shout out to my campaign assistant, Kelly. I knew last night, regardless the outcome, I was going to win. Either I'd win the vote and get to work using my talents and experience to benefit the City, or I'd by losing the vote, and thereby having more time to devote to my three grandchildren, Kelly, Trent, and Madalyn.

I'm going to take time to recharge, but be on the lookout, I foresee a new superhero on the horizon, Guardian of Democracy...'in a small red city on the Ohio...'

Thanks to everyone who supported my run. It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to know you.

As Tom Petty sang, 'I won't back down.'

One final picture of my campaign assistant, Kelly.

11/07/2023

I'm up early this morning to watch my youngest grandson Kelly while his mom and dad volunteer their time at polling sites across the city.

And at 6 pm I'll head over to Democratic Headquarters for our Election Results Pizza Party (https://facebook.com/events/s/election-results-pizza-party/6674040069379674/?mibextid=RQdjqZ ). Please join if you can!

Whatever the outcome this evening, I wanted to be sure to acknowledge the hard work put in by all of our Democratic Candidates. And while the work was hard, we had a lot of fun because of the amazing people each one is individually.

And I know we all are hoping that after tonight we will have elected Dan Dattilo for Mayor of Madison, Indiana. Here's why I hope to be working with Dan:

I grew up with many Dattilos, but only this summer really got to know Dan. I'd known his father and grandfather as a young woman growing up in Madison and found them to be excellent people, so I was not surprised to see Dan following in their footsteps.

The trait that stands out to me about Dan is his ability to give you his absolute attention. When you have the opportunity to speak with Dan, he listens way more than he talks, with genuine interest and kindness and with a willingness to find a solution together. And I know a lot of people in Madison are needing that in their lives.

Dan will work for EVERY Madisonian. Dan's 8 years on City Council have taught him a lot, and I have no doubt that he will surround himself with a team of people qualified to bring excellence and character to City Hall.

Please be sure to get out and vote today, no matter who you ultimately choose. Your voice is important and we want to hear from everyone.

Thanks for following my campaign and for your support.

11/06/2023

Earlier this fall, all candidates were asked to submit answers to questions so that the Madison Courier could run candidate and election information in their October 27 paper.

I wanted to share both my answers and my opponent Katie’s answers. I believe an informed electorate is the only way to have a true Democracy. I've included links below, but I do believe they may be behind a paywall. I tried my best to screenshot the e-courier version to share with you below as ‘photos.’ If you have trouble accessing the articles, let me know and I'll do by best to send a clearer version.

I wanted to point out a few things in Katie’s work experience. She talks about auditing files during her time with FSSA. This is compliance auditing, where the person auditing the file ensures that the file has the appropriate documents and that the documents are complete. This is not financial auditing, which includes testing of account information for reasonableness, confirmation of assets or debts, and testing the system to ensure that the results are repeatable. It is incredibly important to understand financial auditing in the position of Clerk-Treasurer. I have that knowledge.

Katie also has no accounting background. So, in my view, she is flying blind. She has no idea what she doesn’t know. She talks about fulfilling job responsibilities but one look at the 2022 audit indicates she is not successful at managing the responsibilities. Monthly reports-not filed timely. Annual Report-filed with auditors in May 2023 (instead of December 2022) including the year end reconciliation which had items dating back to March 2022 still open. There were two new TIF funds created by the City which did not exist in the records of the Clerk-Treasurer. That resulted in the understating of the City’s assets by millions of dollars. That’s not managing the responsibilities of the Clerk-Treasurer.

Katie also discusses the lack of internal controls for City credit cards–what controls were instituted and why? Were they preventive or detecting internal controls?

Begin with the end in mind is sage advice. You get a Standard Operating Procedures Manual by documenting what’s currently happening and determine what you need to do to institute internal controls. That’s not easy when you don’t understand them. There are EIGHTY NINE FUNDS identified in the City of Madison Financial Statements. The Clerk-Treasurer’s office (likely before Katie even arrived) has been creating funds for the sake of creating funds. This is not a sound financial practice.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, no financial reports have been posted on the City’s website for the 20 months that Katie has been in office, despite the former Clerk-Treasurer posting them. Is there a reason we should believe the next term will be different?

I don’t believe that Katie has the requisite knowledge to do the job of Clerk Treasurer. I’ve done it successfully and managed budgets that are five times the level of Madison’s current budget. This doesn't mean that I think Katie is a bad person, or couldn't learn…eventually.

I am 100% certain we do not have the time to wait for Katie to catch up. We need someone now to provide checks and balances to the money that City Hall is spending. In fact, we needed that person yesterday. And by yesterday I mean 2019 when Bob Courtney - Madison's Mayor took office.

Here are the links to the Courier articles:

https://www.madisoncourier.com/news/clerk-treasurer-race-sue-patterson/article_e708b8a6-2e17-5d93-a330-5f8457ea7d56.html

https://www.madisoncourier.com/news/clerk-treasurer-race-katie-rampy/article_e1e10bf9-c06e-5bae-8fa7-bd8a16a4c4f2.html

And here's a picture of my finest campaign worker exploring Candidate Ed Stigall, Jr.'s backyard, and the screenshots of the E-Courier edition!

11/04/2023

11/5/2023 Update: It's important to acknowledge mistakes. And yesterday I approved a post on my page (below) that wasn't 100% accurate and for that I apologize. The job posting I listed that was dated November 3 was apparently posted in August of this year. I have not been privy to the original job posting from City Hall's HR and was not able to find it announced on FB, despite other job openings being posted on City pages.

And, I must point out that it's been extremely difficult to get information from Katie's Clerk-Treasurer's Office. Financial reports are not available online as they were under Rick Berry's term as Clerk-Treasurer. This is not an endorsement of Rick, simply a fact. Go look at the City's Website. Simple financial reports that were available before he left in Spring of 2022 are no longer being updated for the public.

https://www.madison-in.gov/topic/index.php?topicid=4&structureid=17

As I detailed in the comments below, I reached out via email to Katie on October 3 asking for documents relating to the hiring of Reedy and Associates, an accounting firm that was hired. I asked for their contract so I could determine what exactly they were hired to do, and for reports that would tell me how much money had been paid to them. I also asked for any reports generated by Reedy through October 17, which is when I turned in the 'official' Freedom of Information request.

It is now November 5 and I have still not received this information. This should be as simple as attaching the contract and reports to an email. It's hard for me to understand what the delay is, and hard for me to believe that it's not delayed for political reasons. I hope that I'm wrong.

I've been available to the public throughout this campaign. Mary Ann Eaglin and I have knocked on doors, and Dan Dattilo and I have knocked on doors. I've been going to as many City Council and Board of Public Works meetings as I've been able to fit into my schedule. I've been to every District Party Dan has held and will be at another this afternoon from 2-4 at 2512 Greenhills Drive. I was at the fair this summer, in the 4th of July parade, and Trick or Treating out at the fairgrounds. I am not on FB personally but my daughter Julie has been helping me with this page so that I can share my ideas and qualifications with the public.

All I want is for the City of Madison to be in a good place financially. I know how to do that type of work in my sleep. I'm a numbers person. Numbers have always come naturally to me and then I've built upon that through education and 28 years of work experience.

I hope you're able to see that I'm the most qualified for this position. I hope to be elected this Tuesday. And if I'm not, I hope Katie is able to keep a team of people together to run the office and get back to informing the public regularly via the website.

There's another job opening in the Clerk-Treasurer's Office. From my understanding there has been significant turnover in this office since Ms. Rampy was caucused in in 2022.

Someone sent me the link this morning. I wondered if it was also available on the City's website. It is not.

Here's the link to the job posting, looks like from 11/3/2023: https://in.tarta.ai/j/N6wmUIoBcRajQcTj6Bw80823-deputy-clerk-in-madison-in-at-city-of-madison-indiana?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic

Here's the link to the City's Employment Opportunities page: https://www.madison-in.gov/department/division.php?structureid=122

The Clerk-Treasurer position is not easy. I have done the job before and am ready to get in there and get to work. I am up for the challenge.

Please enjoy this picture of my campaign team. My grandson Kelly and his mom, Julie.

10/22/2023

What a beautiful fall weekend. A perfect day for some football and audit reports. Let's talk debt!

From my review of the Financial Statement Audit Report, as of 12/31/2022, the City of Madison's ending principal balance of debt is $41,165,061.

There is also 'related party' debt from the Madison Redevelopment Authority of $4.9 million.

All of this information about the City of Madison's debt can be found on p. 37-38 of report 000000392A, on the Indiana State Board of Accounts website at https://secure.in.gov/apps/sboa/audit-reports/ #%2F

Why is this number different than what my Democratic colleague Dan Dattilo used in his video a few weeks ago, when he talks about the $18 million debt the City has accrued?

Dan used the only information available to him at that time, which is what the City of Madison posts on Gateway, a state run financial information system, to make a video about a very important Mayoral topic, fiscal responsibility. He and the rest of the City Council, and the general public for that matter, are not getting monthly or even quarterly financial statements as happens in many other municipalities.

Let's check the City's own website. If you go to their Clerk Treasurer page it suggests you can find Claim Reports, Budget Reports, and Financial Reports. But when you start looking for recent reports, there are none. The last Claim Reports are from February 2022, just before the current Clerk-Treasurer took office. There are no Budget Reports or Financial Reports at all. Here's the link to the Clerk-Treasurer page on the City's website: https://www.madison-in.gov/department/index.php?structureid=17

I was still completing my review of the audit when Dan released his video. And since the release of his video, we've been working together to make a plan for more financial transparency, in addition to how to educate the general public on reports often used only in the financial world.

These reports, the Gateway Report and the Financial Statement Audit Report, still paint an incomplete picture of the true financial health of the City.

Some information that I don't readily have access to as a member of the general public are amortization schedules for all of these bond issues. These schedules are normally available when bonds are issued. When I was an examiner, these schedules were included as part of the financial report. These schedules would show us the amount of principal paid and the amount of interest due, and therefore would help us understand the debt more completely.

The City of Madison also needs to develop a system that shows a depreciation schedule for all of their assets. That would also give us more complete information about the City of Madison's financial health at any given point of time.

Is your head spinning yet? It's complicated stuff. If you're not doing this job everyday, it's not second nature or easy to understand. That's why these reports and schedules should be discussed regularly at City Council meetings, but at the very least annually upon completion of the annual audit. These reports would be presented by the Clerk Treasurer so our elected officials are understanding the full picture of the City's financial position before they are casting votes on important decisions that affect us now and well into the future.

Again, if we want to be fully transparent, it is our job not only to share this information, but to explain it. And that's hard to do when you're learning the job yourself, as my opponent is. I already know the job and have done it before. I am ready to help the Mayor and the rest of my teammates on the City Council understand these financial issues.

I look forward to your vote, whether you choose to vote early or on Tuesday, November 7. Make sure you have your plan in place. My grandson Kelly and his generation deserve it.

10/18/2023

At last night's City Council meeting, Council
President Krebs asserted that most financial audits find errors of some sort, and that Madison's recent audits have discovered minor errors that were often corrected within the time that the auditors were still conducting the audit. She is correct, audits point out errors small and large.

However, the City of Madison audits have discovered serious accounting issues over the past four years (2019-2022). Those audits point out issues related to lack of internal controls .

In 2022, there was more than $68M in receipts and $47M in disbursements that ran through the Clerk-Treasurer's office. That is a great deal of money running through the City's accounts for the City to lack appropriate controls.

The lack of internal controls resulted in multiple errors, including funds not being established--specifically--The Super ATV TIF fund and the Madison Plaza TIF fund. The lack of appropriate handling of the TIF funds led to the City's receipts, disbursements and cash & investments balances being understated by $7.8M, $4.7M and $3.1M, respectively.

Yes, these mistakes were corrected by the State Board of Account auditors, but as a former auditor myself, I will tell you that that kind of error is huge and sends up red flags to an Auditor about the strength of the City's Internal Controls, or lack thereof.

I believe the Electorate must learn to pay closer attention to these reports. I would assist in demonstrating to the public the importance of financial literacy.

I am ready to do that day one. I was the Clerk-Treasurer for Hanover in the 80s. I worked for the State Board of Accounts that performs the audits Madison sits through yearly. I performed those audits on towns and cities just like Madison.

On a personal note, I am committed to Madison, Indiana indefinitely. My three grandchildren are here with two of my grown children, and my 'baby' lives a short 4 hours away in Michigan. I am not relocating anytime soon. I am committed to getting Madison back to the clean audits of Beverly Armstrong's Clerk-Treasurer days, who served the City from 1993 through 2007.

So yes, Council President Krebs is correct, audits point out errors big and small. But these lack of internal controls are not small errors. They are big. I've dealt with big errors and ready to steer Madison back to clean audits.

Picture of my grandson because he's way cuter than financial statements.

09/19/2023

Experience matters and so does financial transparency.

This begins with something as simple as posting agendas to the City Website so that the general public is aware of when the Budget is discussed.

The 2024 Budget for the City of Madison will be introduced at the City Council meeting at 5:30 pm TONIGHT, Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at City Hall. I have not found an agenda posted for tonight's meeting. I know that the Budget is going to be introduced tonight because I have been attending the Board of Public Works Meetings over the last month and directly asked when it would be introduced.

It will be important to be early if you hope to get a seat at City Hall. The Council chamber is fairly small. My hope is that this meeting will be well attended by all department heads and by concerned citizens. I'll report back later this week.

If you can’t be in attendance you can subscribe to the City of Madison channel on www.youtube.com. The sound quality is rather poor, at least in the several snippets of various boards and City Council meetings that I have attempted to watch.

The second reading of the budget will be on Tuesday October 3, 2023 at the City Council meeting at 5:30 pm in the Council room at City Hall.

The adoption of the 2024 City of Madison Budget will take place at 5:30 pm in the Council room at City Hall on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

After the budget is passed by City Council, the information is loaded into Gateway financial system by November 8, 2023 for review by the Department of Local Government Finance which will certify the budget rates and budget amounts by December 31, 2023 and notify City of Madison officials.

Earlier this summer, the City of Madison had a budget workshop on August 29, 2023 at Madison First Financial Bank. I had been watching the calendar on Madison's website for information about this meeting and it appears that it was posted just a few days before the meeting occurred.

Please stay informed, not just during election years. It is important that we trust our elected officials to be good stewards of our tax money, and that is more likely to happen when citizens stay engaged.

Happy Budget Season! Enjoy this picture of my Campaign Assistant discovering the new Gaines Park playground.

09/16/2023

Followers of my page have likely noticed this sweet little boy in pictures with me. I'd like to officially announce his appointment as Campaign Assistant. I offered him the opportunity and will pay him in Scoops ice cream and shakes from DQ and he accepted!

So let's welcome Kelly Pattersmith to the Campaign Team and to celebrate, please invite your Facebook friends to follow my page. You can promise them cute pictures and transparency about my plans when elected to Clerk-Treasurer. I would appreciate you encouraging EVERYONE, Republicans, Democrats, and non-voters alike, to follow my page in order to become an informed citizen.

One of my passions is to educate everyone who is willing to learn about Financial Literacy. Be on the lookout for more posts where I explain my plans based on the information that is currently available to me (and the rest of Madison's taxpayers) about Madison's current financial state.

Sue Patterson for Madison Clerk-Treasurer

05/01/2024

04/19/2024

01/06/2024

11/08/2023

11/07/2023

11/06/2023

11/04/2023

10/22/2023

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09/19/2023

09/16/2023

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