For Immediate Release:                                                      

August 12, 2021                                                                    

Severance Overpayments Result in Finding for Recovery in Jefferson Township Audit

Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber’s Office released the 2020 financial audit of Jefferson Township in Montgomery County. The audit included a finding for recovery totaling $3,233 for severance overpayments.

Township Battalion Chief Chad McInturff was hired as a full time employee in August 2015 and resigned effective October 24, 2020. Mr. McInturff should have earned 78.7 hours of vacation leave during 2020, however, the Township's payroll system recorded an accrual of 106.7 hours of vacation leave in 2020. As a result, Mr. McInturff was overpaid for vacation leave accrued but unused at the time of his resignation by $497. There was no indication that the Trustees reviewed and approved this severance payment.

Township Maintenance Coordinator Randall DeVilbiss was terminated effective May 6, 2020. Mr. DeVilbiss should have carried over a maximum of 40 hours of vacation leave from 2019 into 2020 and his vacation leave balance at the time of his termination should have been depleted. However, the Township's payroll system recorded a carryover vacation leave balance of 185.20 hours of vacation leave and a balance of 114 hours of vacation leave at the time of his termination. As a result, Mr. DeVilbiss was overpaid for vacation leave accrued but unused at the time of his termination by $2,736.

A finding for recovery was issued against Chad McInturff in the amount of $497 and Randall DeVilbiss in the amount of $2,736 in favor of Jefferson Township's Fire Fund.

Trustees James McGuire and Roy Mann Sr. approved the payroll which included the severance payment issued to Mr. DeVilbiss, therefor a finding for recovery is jointly and severally issued against Trustee James McGuire and Trustee Roy Mann Sr. in the amount of $2,736 in favor of Jefferson Township's Fire Fund. The Trustees' bonding company is the Ohio Township Association Risk Management Authority.

Additionally, the Township faced findings for:

• Noncompliance- Minutes Deficiencies
• Noncompliance – Time and Effort Certifications
• Material Weakness- Financial Statement Misstatements

The audit also noted that previous findings had not been fully corrected including:

• Financial Statement Errors
• Proper Encumbering of Expenditures
• Budgetary Information in Accounting System
• Minutes Deficiencies

A full copy of this report is available online.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.