Winnebago County Hit With 24 Year Old Drainage Billing

The Faribault County, Minnesota Drainage Manager brought to the attention of Winnebago County Drainage Clerk Kris Oswald invoices for work dating between 2002 and 2019 for drainage work done in joint drainage districts between the two.  The work amounted to $546,000. Oswald was taken aback by the billing.

A new manager has taken over in Faribault County and has been going through the records to try and get the county caught up in billing. Some of the billing is 24 years old and allegedly has not been paid.

The supervisors noted that each of the bills had been rounded up to the nearest zero which is uncommon in drainage billing as there are almost always cent figures involved. In one case, a bill reoccurred at $58,000 annually for three consecutive years.

The supervisors noted that the billing was not specific in that it did not detail what work had been done. The Winnebago County Auditors Office and other departments are assisting Oswald by looking into the billing and get a better idea on how to proceed.