YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor announced Friday that Springettsbury Township in York County had to repay nearly $120,000 to the state after recent audits determined the township made errors in reporting its eligibility for state aid.
The overpayment errors were "one of the largest of this type" his audit team has identified, DeFoor said in a press release.
“I applaud the township for acknowledging its mistakes and promptly repaying the funds, which will be used to provide aid to other municipal pension plans," he added.
DeFoor said compliance audits of Springettsbury Township’s police and non-uniformed employee pension plans found the township reported ineligible employees and overstated its payroll on certification forms submitted for the years 2017 through 2020.
As a result of those findings, the township repaid $101,508 in aid previously received, plus interest, for a total of $119,807.11 returned to the commonwealth.
“State pension aid distributed under Act 205 helps to ensure that municipalities are able to meet their obligations to retirees,” DeFoor said. “It’s essential for local officials to correctly certify the amount of state aid they are eligible to receive because it has a direct impact on local tax burdens.”
In its response to auditors, township officials agreed to implement stronger internal controls for managing its pension plans, noting that the municipality has experienced staff turnover in recent years.
DeFoor said the mistakes appeared to be simply a case of human error.
During the period reviewed by the audit, the township received a total of $2,323,424.64 in pension aid from the state, DeFoor said.
In 2020, the Department of the Auditor General distributed a total of $324.74 million in state pension aid to 1,483 municipalities and regional departments to support pension plans covering police officers, paid firefighters and non-uniformed employees. The funds are generated by a 2 percent tax on fire and casualty insurance policies sold in Pennsylvania by out-of-state companies.
Review the Springettsbury Township audit reports and learn more about the Department of the Auditor General online at www.paauditor.gov.
