News 3 Now has removed an article reporting a $200,000 disparity in the financial statements of Madison-based nonprofit Urban Triage from its website pending an editorial review.
The story was based on a fundamental error, confusing a budgeted amount with an expenditure, a Madison365 analysis of documents found.
The office of County Executive Melissa Agard called on on News 3 Now Wednesday to retract the story.
“Channel 3’s story incorrectly reports the contract’s budgeted amount as the amount actually spent,” County Executive Office Deputy Chief of Staff Aaron Collins said in a statement emailed to Madison365. “We’re asking Channel 3 to remove the article and issue a retraction so the public receives accurate information.”
In an email to Madison365 Wednesday afternoon, News 3 Now assistant news director Mike Truett said the newsroom stands by its reporting, but the story was removed from the Channel3000 website as of Wednesday evening, 24 hours after it was first published. Truett told Madison365 in an email Thursday that the company had removed the story while it conducts an editorial review.
Late Friday, Urban Triage issued a statement calling on Channel3000 to also remove the Facebook post promoting the debunked story.
“In light of recent news coverage, Urban Triage reaffirms our unwavering commitment to truth, integrity, and service. The claims and inferences currently circulating are unfounded and without merit,” the statement reads. “We are calling on Channel3000.com to remove the associated Facebook post, in addition to its article, and to issue a full retraction, acknowledging their false and misleading statements. However, in the meantime, we will not allow misinformation to distract us from the vital work we do every day in service to our community.”
The story, published on Channel3000.com, incorrectly says that Urban Triage’s audited financials report $3,277,590 in administrative expenses to manage a Dane County emergency rental assistance program over three years, from 2021 through 2023, while a report submitted to the county shows expenditures of $3,480,253 for the three years.
In fact, according to the expense report submitted to the County, $3,480,253 was the amount the county budgeted to administer an emergency housing program, not what was spent. The expense report says Urban Triage actually spent $2,039,247, which matches figures given in the 2023 audited financials.
Additionally, the expense report submitted to the county was a cumulative report, detailing all expenses over three years, Dane County Department of Human Services officials confirmed.
Over the course of the three-year contract, Urban Triage reported spending $2,039,247 on overhead expenses such as office rent, staff salaries, and other operating costs. That reported amount of expenditure matches the organization’s audited financial statements.
Audited financial statements indicate Urban Triage spent $490,523 in 2021, the first year of the contract, and by the end of 2022 had spent $747,820.
In total over three years, the county allocated $3,480,253 for overhead expenses and Urban Triage only spent $2,039,247. The Channel3000 story incorrectly added the three expenditures up, as if each was the amount expended in a separate year, rather than a cumulative spend.
The County Board approved the contract in 2021, hiring Urban Triage to manage about $20 million in rental assistance and other funding for people in need who live outside the city of Madison.
While the 2021 contract expired at the end of 2023, Urban Triage continues to perform housing assistance services for the county. The organization came under some scrutiny last year when it had spent all of its allocated budget by October.
“A clean audit”
The Channel3000 story also reported that it was “false” when Urban Triage Board Chair Dana Pellebon and CEO Brandi Grayson claimed to have had “clean audits,” citing the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer’s note that the organization’s two most recent audited financial statements contain “significant deficiencies.”
However, an audit can be considered “clean” even with a deficiency, a Madison accountant told Madison365.
“A ‘clean’ or unmodified audit opinion means the auditors concluded that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the company’s financial position and results of operations; in other words there were no material misstatements,” Novii CPA founder and owner Victoria Thayer said in an email to Madison365. “It’s still possible to receive a clean opinion even if the auditors identified a deficiency or a significant deficiency, as long as it doesn’t rise to the level of a material weakness that would impact the overall reliability of the financial statements. “
She was speaking generally about the term “clean audit,” not commenting on the Urban Triage audits specifically.
Pellebon declined to comment, but said the organization might issue a statement at a later time.
This story has been updated to include a statements from News 3 Now and Urban Triage.
