Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance Payroll Audit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Westfield council orders forensic payroll review after MPERS flags missed retirement contributions
Summary
Council members discussed a decades-old missed retirement contribution identified by MPERS, the Clerk-Treasurer confirmed corrective payment and the administration said it will commission a forensic payroll audit to check for other errors dating to Westfield's incorporation.
The Westfield City Council on Tuesday discussed a decades-old payroll error after the Municipal Public Employee Retirement System (MPERS) notified the city that retirement contributions were not credited for a firefighter dating to February 2009. Clerk-Treasurer Marla confirmed she made the corrective deposit after MPERS contacted the city, and council members said the administration will commission a forensic payroll audit covering years since Westfield became a city.
City officials said the issue surfaced when the employee reviewed his MPERS account and MPERS contacted the city to verify why contributions were missing. "I verified within MPERS that the payments hadn't been made and, quite frankly, I'm statutorily obligated to go ahead and make the payment after confirming that. So I did," Marla told the council.
Officials said the deposit corrected the immediate shortfall but may not make the employee whole for lost market gains over the last 16 years. Mayor (name on record) told the council the city will "go back probably while since the time that Westfield became a city, which would be 02/2008. And we're going to do an audit, a very forensic audit." He said the administration and the Clerk-Treasurer's office will collaborate on the review.
Councilors debated the scope of the audit and sampling approaches. One councilor urged a statistically significant sample rather than handling each claim individually; another suggested a larger sample if initial findings show multiple errors. City staff said administration staff is vetting firms to perform the work and will return with a recommendation.
Council members emphasized the review is intended to determine whether other employees were affected and, if so, to identify appropriate restitution. No formal vote to fund the audit was recorded; council and the mayor said they would work with the Clerk-Treasurer's office and the administration to select a vendor and determine the audit's scope.
The council also discussed a separate claims item that included a $400 late payment tied to the same period; officials said other items on the claims docket are being reviewed for potential errors. Next steps: administration to present a vendor recommendation and scope options at a future meeting; no formal vote or appropriation was recorded during the discussion.
