by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Thief River Falls City Council has approved seeking an independent forensic audit to determine the amount of excess back pay paid to city employees in December. That decision was made at a special council meeting Thursday, March 30.

Also during that meeting, the council referred a disciplinary discussion to the Labor Committee. It is believed that the committee may consider potential disciplinary action, including administrative leave, involving City Administrator Angie Philipp and Human Resources Coordinator Holly Crandall. While council members were concerned about the mistake being made twice in December, they were also concerned that the full council didn’t learn of the issue until March.

Mayor Brian Holmer, who serves on the Labor Committee, recused himself from the Labor Committee. Council member Steve Narverud was appointed in his place. Other council members serving on the Labor Committee are Jason Aarestad and Mike Lorenson. The Labor Committee is expected to meet sometime in the near future. That date hadn’t been determined as of the special council meting.

The matter came to a head at the regular council meeting Tuesday, March 21. At that time, the council tabled amendments to two resolutions regarding back pay for city employees. The back pay had been awarded as a result of a market study conducted last year.

In December, the council approved the back pay for employees retroactive to Oct. 1. However, a mistake occurred and employees were paid back pay to the first payroll in October instead of Oct. 1. As a result, employees received back pay going back to the three weeks of payroll for September.

The error was realized Dec. 16, the day after the first group of employees received their paychecks. More than a week later, after the council approved back pay for the second union and human resources was notified about the error, the second group of employees received their paychecks. Their paychecks also included back pay going back to the three weeks of payroll for September.

The council has yet to see how much the city erroneously paid the employees in back pay. At the two council meetings in December, estimates weren’t provided nor had any council members asked for estimates. After the first council meeting in December, The Times asked and was told the estimate retroactive to Oct. 1 was believed to be an additional $40,066 for employees not served by the Management, Administrative, Professional and Supervisory Union. The Times has since learned that the additional amount for MAPS employees was estimated at $5,132.40.

On Wednesday, March 22, The Times asked for an estimate regarding the excess back pay provided to employees. In an email, Philipp wrote, “These original estimates did not include adjustments to overtime pay, double time pay and standby pay. With the implementation that included a retro pay back to the first payroll in October (Oct. 6), the MAPS amount increased by $493 and the other employees’ amount increased by $7,876.85. Also included in these increases related to the first payroll in October (Oct. 6) increases were adjustments to overtime pay, double time pay and standby pay, which were not part of the original estimates total given for retro with a starting date of Oct. 1 through December.”

The numbers provided by Philipp were apparently estimates. At the special council meeting, she said the amount was about $12,500, which didn’t include back pay paid to the Law Enforcement Labor Services union or overtime during the three weeks in September. Philipp said she didn’t have the payroll reports.

More information will appear in the next edition of The Times.