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Hernando Today

County Releases Payroll Audit

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: January 15, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Except for scattered recordkeeping problems, an audit of the county's payroll operations showed no major flaws.

The audit, released Wednesday by the clerk of the circuit court's office, reserved its harshest criticism for the animal services department.

A kennel worker's attendance and time sheets were found to contain errors which indicated a "complete breakdown in the payroll clerk and management oversight controls," the audit said.

"Due to the extent of the control failures, it is highly recommended that management take immediate corrective action to strengthen the Animal Services department's payroll control environment," the audit said.

"In addition, management should stress to its personnel that sloppy and unreliable time records will not be tolerated," the report concluded.

Circuit Court Clerk Karen Nicolai said corrective actions in that department are already under way.

"They've really tightened it up," Nicolai said. "They were very cooperative and understanding."

The audit also recommended the county review its employee reclassification system, a process where an employee's essential job duties are changed midway in the budget cycle, requiring a modification of that person's pay grade.

In fact, it appears the county has no written policy for mid-year reclassifications, the audit said.

The audit said county commissioners need to determine if this process will or won't be standard practice from now on. If so, consideration should be given to standardizing the process with the proper paperwork - all supported by a written policy, it said.

Also, to cut down on inaccuracies on employees' calculation of hours, the audit recommends managers exercise better oversight of daily time cards and attendance sheets before approving them for payroll processing.

"I thought (the audit) was generally pretty good," Nicolai said. "I was pleasantly surprised."

This was the first audit of this scope ever to be done of the payroll operations of the entire county and was done primarily because of the alleged fraud uncovered last year in the Emergency Management department, she said.

That department was rocked after an extensive sheriff's investigation found evidence of falsification of payroll.

The probe led to the resignation of the department's director Tom Leto and the arrest of his administrative assistant, Stephanie Anderson, on charges of falsifying payroll records to receive $9,865 in compensation for days she wasn't at work, investigators said.

Anderson has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for pre-trial Jan. 23.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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