Investigation finds over $250K in ‘questioned, improper and unsupported disbursements’ by Tama County Human Resources

A special investigation by Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand’s office identified more than $250,000 in questioned costs and improper and unsupported disbursements between 2020 and 2025, according to a report issued Tuesday.

The majority of the questionable spending identified in Sand’s report, which focused on transactions processed by former HR Director and Insurance Administrator Tamara “Tammy” Wise, came in the form of unsupported disbursements. Those included “$153,038.60 of disbursements to vendors from the County’s Health Insurance fund, $8,728.26 of purchases made using the Department’s credit card, $4,640.06 of disbursements to vendors from the County’s Substance Abuse fund, $1,192.48 of disbursements to vendors from the County’s Mental Health fund, and $1,110.49 of reimbursements issued to Ms. Wise.”

“Because sufficient records were not available, it was not possible to determine if the purchases were for County operations or were personal in nature,” the report reads.

One section of the 39-page report focuses on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, of which Tama County received approximately $3.27 million. It notes that Wise oversaw “all expenses and receipts for the ARPA fund.”

“Although Ms. Wise was responsible for submitting all the expenses flowing through this fund, there was a committee formed to approve how the County was using the ARPA funds. However, County officials and staff we spoke with, could not say who was a part of the committee,” the report reads. “According to County staff we spoke with, they had identified ‘interesting’ invoices when another staff was going through the records maintained in Ms. Wise’s office.”

One of them was a generator Wise purchased for her personal residence at a total cost of $8,760.45 with a down payment of $5,000. While ARPA funds were not used to pay for the generator, the report notes that the purchase was made using the county’s tax-exempt status.

“As a result, Ms. Wise avoided paying sales tax in the amount of $613.23,” the report states.

The $81,376.30 in “questioned cost disbursements” include payments for more than $57,000 to vendors like Visa and Amazon for which supporting documentation was not available, and $19,500 to a vendor who was rebuilding and developing the county’s website, work that was considered not satisfactory, but the company refused to correct without additional payment, among other payments.

The report also detailed improper purchases on the county credit card for light fixtures, fishing gear, food items, flowers and personal prescriptions along with $8,728.26 in unsupported purchases.

A review of the county’s health insurance fund revealed nine improper disbursements totaling $241.19 and 89 unsupported disbursements totaling $153,038.60. Unsupported disbursements were also identified from the Substance Abuse Fund and the Mental Health Fund. They included $14,690 paid to Wise’s daughter in 2017 for data processing between May and December 2017 with no formal contract in place.

“[Ms. Wise’s daughter] mentioned that she would fill out a timesheet that was turned into Ms. Wise for approval, however the timesheets are no longer available in the County’s records,” the report states.

A review of the county’s now defunct “Central Point of Contact” program also identified payments to Wise’s daughter totaling $14,371.65, but “due to the lack of information regarding the duties in this position, information about the program, and supporting documentation for the transactions from this account,” the office did not perform any additional review or testing of the transactions in the account.

Supervisors say they have ‘adopted new policies, safeguards and oversight’

The report outlines several recommendations focused on stricter oversight of county expenditures, independent review and record keeping to ensure that all purchases are made with a public purpose.

Not long after the report was released, the Tama County Board of Supervisors issued a statement.

“After the 2024 elections — and with a new Board seated at the beginning of January 2025 that subsequently assumed responsibility — the Tama County Board of Supervisors received numerous concerns and complaints from citizens regarding various county operations and processes. In fulfillment of its responsibility to the public, the Board conducted due diligence, reviewed the information provided, and formally turned over all relevant materials to the appropriate authorities. The Board also initiated a meeting with the State Auditor’s Office to ensure that every concern brought forward by residents was clearly and transparently conveyed,” the release states.

“While some findings in the report are troubling and raise significant concern, the citizens of Tama County can rest assured that the Tama County Board of Supervisors has already adopted new policies, safeguards, and oversight practices designed to enhance financial security, promote transparency, and strengthen accountability within county operations,” the board wrote in its statement.

Wise, who was terminated by a 3-2 vote of the Tama County Board of Supervisors in February 2025, currently has a wrongful termination and tortious interference lawsuit pending against the board of supervisors and outside HR specialist Paul Greufe. The trial is scheduled to begin in Tama County District Court on Aug. 17.

Wise did not respond to a request for comment.

Sand: ‘Lack of records’ made investigation difficult

Sand, during a press conference Tuesday, said the investigation underscores the need for “effective oversight” at the local level.

“We always want to make sure that public funds are going to a public use, and when they don’t, that is always going to undermine trust. And it’s important for our office to be able to step in and tell the public, to the degree that we can determine, what exactly is going on,” Sand said.

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“The most difficult piece of this investigation for us was simply the lack of records. That made it impossible for us to determine if all the funds were misused versus potentially being put to a public use without support for them,” he said.

Sand noted that suspicions were aroused when an individual was looking through county invoices and found one for the generator paid on the county’s credit card, saving Wise more than $600 in sales tax.

Asked whether criminal charges should be filed, Sand said the Auditor’s Office does not make recommendations on charges. He noted that copies of the report have been distributed to the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the Tama County Attorney’s Office, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

This article was first published by the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle.