Audit committee accepts independent review of firefighter payroll recalculation

The Carson City Audit Committee unanimously accepted a review of the city’s recalculation of firefighter salaries dating to Jan. 1, 2020, after an engagement found no exceptions in a sample-based validation of the city’s work.

Brad Lamong, who presented the engagement results, told the committee the work was a consulting recalculation rather than a formal audit. The engagement validated the city’s payroll calculations on a sampled basis using city payroll exports, collective bargaining agreements and payroll codes. “Based on our review, we found no exceptions or discrepancies in the payroll calculations performed by the city,” Lamong said.

Sherry explained the item arose from a grievance filed by the Carson City Firefighters Association Local 2251 related to earlier errors during the implementation of the Munis ERP system. The city performed a department-wide recalculation covering roughly 68 firefighter employees; the independent engagement used a random sample of 14 employees to validate the calculations. Sherry said initial retroactive corrections identified that some firefighters had owed money during early adjustments; staff completed recalculations and follow-up corrections.

Committee members asked whether the errors were limited to accounting or involved multiple departments. City staff said responsibility was shared across the fire department, human resources and accounting and that outstanding issues identified during recalculation were being corrected.

Action: A motion to accept the review was made, seconded and approved unanimously by the Audit Committee.