The City Council approved claims at a special meeting Thursday that included $105,569.77 billed by accounting firm Baker Tilly, and members asked the Clerk-Treasurer to provide a detailed breakdown of payroll-related costs tied to recent payroll errors.

Councilmembers said the Baker Tilly total included about $50,000 paid to two special assignees who helped process payroll in the spring; the Clerk-Treasurer said the remainder covered work for the Ackford team on compilation tasks. "The total for Baker Tilly was actually 105,569.77," the Clerk-Treasurer said. "About $50,000 of that was to the 2, special assignees that helped me through payroll in the spring."

The request for more detail grew out of earlier discussion about employees being mispaid. One councilmember asked whether a total amount had been calculated for the additional costs the city incurred because of payroll errors. "Has a total amount been put together on how much additional cost that has cost the city in regards to the errors that were made by the Clerk Treasurer's Office with payroll?" the councilmember asked. The Clerk-Treasurer replied that the figure was not available at the meeting but offered to prepare it for future distribution: "Well, not at this time. But again, I could have had that put together for you had you asked me in advance. I'm happy to do that for the future."

The councilmember asked that the Clerk-Treasurer circulate the breakdown to all council members and to include any costs incurred by other city offices, noting they would "get with Daniel Carey Tolan" to compile those amounts. The Clerk-Treasurer also explained that the omission of claim details on the meeting posting was an oversight and that council members could have contacted the office for clarification while staff were aware the Clerk-Treasurer had been out sick.

After the discussion, a motion and second on the claims were already on the table; the council recorded a 5-0 vote in favor. Called roll included Victor McCarty (yes), Patrick Tam (yes), Kurt Wanninger (yes), and John Dart (yes); one additional yes vote was recorded though the speaker name was not specified in the meeting transcript. "Motion carries 5 0," the Clerk-Treasurer announced.

No additional figures for the total city cost of payroll errors were provided at the meeting. Councilmembers directed the Clerk-Treasurer to prepare and distribute an itemized accounting of Baker Tilly charges and any related city costs ahead of a future meeting.