According to documents obtained by News10, the Granholm Cherry Inaugural Committee owes the IRS nearly $20,000.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has placed a federal tax lien on the committee to the tune of $19,535 in unpaid taxes that date back to 2003.

That would have been Granholm's 2002 inaugural committee. Some of the events happened in early 2003.

When we called someone who had been on the committee, Chris DeWitt, he said that was the first the campaign had ever even heard of the lien.

But they've issued us a statement saying:

"The Inaugural Committee was established to limit taxpayer expenses related to the 2003 inauguration. Our accountants filed tax returns with the IRS. The Committee was dissolved in 2005.

The first we heard of the lien was yesterday [Wednesday]. Our accountants are obtaining information from the IRS concerning the basis of the lien.

We will take all appropriate measures to resolve this issue."

We found record of the lien on page four of the Ingham County Legal News.

We brought the report to John Truscott, who worked on former Governor John Engler's inaugural committees.

"This is very unusual," he says. "Given this is U.S. Department of Treasury, this would have to be income taxes that weren't paid on employees."

Two tax preparers in Lansing agreed, saying unpaid income tax is a very possible explanation.

Truscott says inaugural committees are typically 20 to 30 people, working for two to three months fundraising and event-planning.

And though this specific committee in question no longer exists, as far as the IRS is concerned, they still owe them money.