Information obtained from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) has revealed that Wayne County Commissioner Dean Burbach used Menards rebates earned through the expenditure of county funds for his own benefit.
In information sent to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 26, allegations were received in regard to the incident and the APA began a limited preliminary work to determine if a full financial audit or attestation would be warranted. The APA obtained financial records and other relevant documentation from the County.
Based on the outcome of this preliminary planning work, including an analysis of the information obtained, the APA has determined that a separate financial audit or attestation is unnecessary at this time, as the County is audited on an annual basis.
Additional information from the APA noted that "the County maintains a charge account with Menards, which it utilizes to purchase general supplies and other items. Between June 1, 2024 and August 31, 2024, 14 transactions, totally $7,434.48, were made on the County's charge account. Eight of those transactions were signed off by either County Commissioners Dean Burbach or his son, Ryan Burbach. Memards frequently offers an 11% rebate on purchases, which was earned on all 14 of the expenditures at issue. The rebate information is included at the bottom of the original transaction receipt. In order to redeem the rebate, one must fill out a rebate form and mail it, along with the rebate section of the original transaction receipt, to Menards."
The APA received allegations that Commissioner Burbach has redeemed rebates earned from purchases made through the County's Menards charge account, subsequently using them to purchase items for his own personal use.
Three Menards rebates, totaling $591.31, which were earned from purchases made on the County's charge account.
The APA report also states that "Commissioner Burbach appears to have used portions of the rebates for his own personal benefit. Per County representatives, there are neither procedures for tracking rebates earned on County purchases nor a formal policy for handling such rebates."
The APA asked Commissioner Burbach on August 5, 2025 about his apparent personal use of teh County rebates earned at Menards. He acknowledged that any rebates aerned from purchases made on the County's charge account should be remitted to the County Clerk's office; however, that did not always happen, and those rebates would have expired. He also state that he would occasionally buy personal items while making purchases for the County, but he did not recall redeeming in his name any rebates earned from the expenditure of County funds.
In a report sent to the County, the APA said, "We recommend the Board implement procedures - possibly through the adoption of a formal policy - to ensure that rebates received from vendors through County purchases, are tracked properly, treated as County property, and used only for appropriate purchases. We further recommend the implementation of procedures to ensure both complete honesty and full compliance with all APA inquires, as required by State statute. Additionally, due to the nature of the concerns addressed in this comment, the APA will forward the information herein to the Nebraska Attorney General, the Wayne County Attorney and the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for further review."
The County's response to the review is as follows"
"We agree with the findings of the letter. We would like to add that we noticed additional purchases that, in addition to the ones detailed, could not have been a county expenditure. On 9/17/24 rebates were used to purchase 14" busel mums and saltine crackers. On 10/3/24 rebates were used to purchase Snickers candy bars, Twizzlers, Pepsi and fall pumpkin decorations. On 11/3/24 rebates were used to purchase Hot Tamales and a wind-up robot toy.
"Although state statute, which prohibits the use of county property for personal financial gain, should be enough to prevent elected officials from doing so, the county clerk and county attorney are in the process of creating policy to be included in the employee handbook outlining the same."
Additional information will be published, pending review by the appropriate entities.
