County Payroll Probe Continues

LOCK HAVEN — It has been better than seven months since the Clinton County Commissioners announced an outside audit to determine the scope of payroll errors affecting compensation for an undisclosed number of county employees.

The commissioners said this week an audit by Zelenkofske Axelrod is ongoing and they are committed to full transparency when the audit is done.

The commissioners had disclosed the problem in February, stating when made aware of the payroll issue they had moved to “launch an investigation.”

That investigation continues, in the form of the audit by the county’s outside auditing firm, going back through employee payrolls from 2011 to 2013.

The Record has learned that results so far have forced some county employees to file amended tax returns to the IRS. The commissioners said at their work session Monday that the county will not accept any obligation to reimburse the costs of employee re-filings.

The commissioners had in February terminated the county payroll clerk in question and made a point to emphasize there had been no fraud and no money misplaced.

The commissioners at that time said the audit could cost as much as $80,000 but they were hopeful the final bill would be less than half that amount.

What the commissioners called “errors” had been uncovered in several areas, including improper information on employees’ W-2 forms, retirement deductions and tax rates.

The commissioners indicated there were no large amounts of money involved in the individual W-2 miscues, ranging from $20 to as much as $400 or $500.