The auditor’s office issued a finding for recovery for $834 against employee Amy Brooks and in favor of the school district’s general fund.
During the 2022 year, the district withheld employee contributions to the State Teacher’s Retirement System (STRS) from Brooks’ gross pay at 13% instead of 14% which is required by the Ohio Revised Code, according to the audit report. Due to the incorrect withholding rate, Brooks was overpaid $834.
In January, the school board and Brooks agreed to repay the amount owed, which was paid in full in February, and the finding was then considered repaid under audit, according to the report.
Treasurer Garth Whitaker said the withholding percentage changed in 2016 from 13% to 14%, and the one employee’s retirement was withheld at that prior rate.
“This has since been corrected and every employee of the district’s withholding percentage has been verified. This was an isolated incident,” he said. “We have implemented an additional control procedure to ensure the proper rates are being withheld for all of our employees.”
On the finding for recovery, the state audit says the district “should establish and implement procedures to review contribution rates to verify proper contributions are withheld.”
The district procedures include:
-The assistant to the treasurer/payroll specialist, before processing payroll, will run an STRS/SERS per pay report and will use a formula to recalculate the applicable required contribution percentage;
-They will then check the employer contribution amount to ensure they agree, before processing payroll; and
-The assistant to the treasurer/payroll specialist and treasurer will both examine the STRS Annual Report before certifying the amounts reported are correct.
“This will be done since it has become apparent to the district that when submitting the STRS Annual Report, STRS does not check, cross-check, verify or perform any due diligence with the report,” the district said.
The assistant to the treasurer/payroll specialist and the treasurer have also reviewed all employees in the system to verify the correct contributions, which will be reviewed periodically.
Greenon’s audit also had findings for recovery in reports released in 2010 and 2015.
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