Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Payroll Dispute topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Attorney says county attempted $6,348 payroll reversal for former deputy; state investigators to be contacted
Summary
An attorney for former deputy Travis Carlson told Benson County commissioners the county tried to reverse $6,348.15 from his bank account and that a July timesheet may have been falsified; the state's attorney agreed to ask the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to follow up.
Tanya Martinez, an attorney representing former deputy Travis Carlson, told the Benson County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 28 that $6,348.15 was reversed out of Carlsons checking account and that the county failed to notify him before the transaction.
"I learned on August 28 that $6,348.15 was reversed out of my client Travis Carlson's checking account," Martinez said, and later called the attempt to remove funds "stealing" in the way it was handled. Martinez said the countys payroll office informed her the reversal resulted from a clerical error tied to vacation and sick-time calculations but that screenshots and overdraft notices from the bank show the account was temporarily overdrawn before the bank stopped the transaction.
Martinez cited state limits on employer withholding from wages and Benson Countys handbook, section 408, which outlines how overpayments and underpayments should be corrected. She also disputed an auditors written claim that a bank reversal did not take place and said the county later attempted to recoup a separate $4,487.
County Auditor Bonnie (auditor) told the board the county's bank would not allow a partial reserve reversal and that, in her office's view, the employee had been paid the net amount. "Our bank would not allow for a partial reserve reversal," Bonnie said.
Martinez also raised a separate allegation that a July time card had a signature stamp after the deputy left the office and asked who signed, submitted, and approved the time sheet. She said she had evidence that others who left the office had similar pay adjustments and asked the state's attorney to review the matter.
State's Attorney Wang told Martinez he would arrange for contact with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. "I will call their director immediately, and they'll assign somebody," Wang said during the meeting.
The board did not take formal action on the payroll dispute during the meeting; the state's attorney said BCI would be asked to contact Martinez by the end of the business day.
Next steps: BCI contact was promised and the county auditor said staff would review the time-sheet signatures and payroll procedures referenced in Martinez's comments.
