There apparently is a conflict between two statutes. One says estimated fee must be paid at time of filing but another references the fee being paid when an estimate is provided. This may end up in Wisconsin court. Without the required estimate from the state authorities, how could stein pay? That will be the argument.
According to the council meeting, the payment is due tomorrow by 4:30 pm.
It is confusing. I saw reports that WI required a $1.1 million filing fee to be paid upon submitting the formal request for the recount (last Friday). Once the tabulation of the recount cost is made, the petitioner also pays that amount. So there may be two separate steps.
On top of that, the petitioner pays lawyers fees, but presumably only for their lawyers, not the lawyers of others (like Trump, Clinton, etc.).