Union says three pay cycles contained errors; council approves claims as city moves to outside audit
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Summary
A representative for Westfield firefighters told the council payroll mistakes in the first three pay cycles of 2025 inflicted hardship on members. Council approved the claims docket 7–0 while city leaders said they are working with accounting firm Baker Tilly and ADP to correct remaining errors and update payroll systems.
Ryan Herron, district vice president of Westfield Local 4416, opened public comment at the Feb. 3 meeting saying his union’s members had suffered repeated payroll errors in 2025.
“Every payroll produced this year has contained errors detrimental to my members and their families,” Herron said. He described members who did not receive direct deposit, multiple double deductions for taxes and benefits, missing overtime pay and problems accessing timecards.
Herron told council members the mayor and council had arranged outside accounting help and he offered his union’s assistance. “Public safety members should not have to worry about their paychecks while responding to emergencies,” Herron said.
During the claims docket discussion later in the meeting, councilors questioned how to approve the claims when payroll issues remained unresolved. City staff and the mayor explained Baker Tilly had been brought in to diagnose and correct the problem and that a series of compounding errors — including a change to how public‑safety retiree payroll (the so‑called 77 fund) is handled — had created mismatched deductions in ADP.
The fire chief added that the change to tax handling had been voted by the affected employees in 2024 but that the memorialization of the change had been dated Jan. 2025; the chief said the payroll vendor’s configuration and subsequent manual steps produced compounding errors across multiple pay cycles.
Mayor (unnamed) said the situation exposed longer‑running issues with how the city uses ADP and how financial reports are produced. “We have to use this opportunity to make changes in how we do business,” the mayor told councilors, and he urged the administration to rely on Baker Tilly for technical fixes and staff training.
Despite the unresolved payroll technicalities, the council approved the claims docket by roll call, 7–0. Councilors said they expected staff to bring a clear remediation plan and that additional manual payments or adjustments might appear in future claims if Baker Tilly’s work identifies outstanding corrections.
Action taken on payroll and claims will not resolve all outstanding employee concerns immediately; city staff said they would continue to work with Baker Tilly and ADP and notify council of follow‑up steps.
