Algonquin Township Road District -Time Card Tuesday #10 – Pay beyond employment?

McHenry Co. (ECWd) –

If you are new to our Time Card Tuesday series we urge you to catch up by first reading part 1, 2, 3, 4.,5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.   At this point in our coverage, it is abundantly clear, whoever was managing payroll has some explaining to do.

With all the documented errors on pay, we still have people claiming nothing was illegal or wrong in Algonquin Township Road District since the State’s Attorney chose not to prosecute, even though we know other matters are awaiting a charging decision from the Appellate Prosecutor’s office.  Let’s add one more thing for the authorities to look into.

It appears once again the paper trail just doesn’t pass the smell test and this time the very letter from Anna May Miller to the Attorney General PAC office sheds light on how things were done in the Highway Department, ran by her husband, Bob Miller.  We first covered her letter in Time Card Tuesday #9.

The two missing time cards from our 2017 reporting were recently found stuck to the back of a file in the Road District safe according to records we recieved. And in true fashion, these time cards are in error right up to the last day of Anna May Miller’s claimed retirement and beyond. You can view the letter from the Highway Department employees and the time cards by downloading them at this link or view below.

May 15, 2017 – The first day in the office for Township Elected Officials

(60 ILCS 1/50-15) 
    Sec. 50-15. Time of entering upon duties. 
    (a) In all counties, the township collectors elected at the township election shall enter upon their duties on January 1 next following their election and qualification. 
    (b) In all counties, township supervisors and township clerks shall enter upon their duties on the third Monday of May following their election. 
    (c) Beginning with elections in 1981 in all counties, the township and multi-township assessors shall enter upon their duties on January 1 next following their election. 
(Source: P.A. 93-847, eff. 7-30-04.)

Anny May Miller informed the Attorney General PAC office that she retired May 12, 2017.  You can confirm this by reading her letter at this link.

“I was employed by the Algonquin Township Road District from August 1998 until retiring May 12, 2017“

So if May 12th, 2017 is the last day she was employed as she told the Attorney General, how is it that she documents 8 hrs of regular pay as comp time for May 15, 2017, three days after she acknowledged retirement?

According to the Policy Manual, paid time off (comp time), “Paid Time Off benefits will be paid only for approved absences and for times when the employee would normally be scheduled to work”.  

We know May 15th, 2017 was not an approved absence because she retired three days earlier.  We also know this was not a day she would normally be scheduled to work because she had already retired. Reviewing all of the 2017 time cards we find compensation accounted for and then some, all year long.  Considering comp time is a calendar year benefit, what was this comp time for on May 15th, 2017?  Was this nothing more than a parting gift?

These two-time cards documented a total of 9.5 hrs of extra regular time and 1 hr of extra overtime.

Comparing the payroll record for the final pay period of May 4 – May 17, 2017, actual regular time paid was 56 hrs, which does match the time card if you apply the dates. However if you follow the pattern of time card entries where dates are separated by a distinct line, it appears she was paid for this May 15th, 2017 comp time.

As you can see, the time card has a line drawn below the May 4th, entry, which implies everything after that day is a new pay period, even though the dates to do not match the payroll recorded dates.  If you add up 8 hr days from the 5th, you do find a total of 56 hrs, which is what the payroll record reflects. This same pattern is found throughout the payroll history.

Based on the time card math, it appears $240.00 dollars was paid for a comp day of which she was no longer even employed, $45.00 in bad math for 1.5 hrs of regular time, and $45.00 of bad math extra overtime not found on the time cards. If our math is correct, that reflects $330.00 extra for these two-time cards.

That appears to bring the running total of bad math time cards to $20,223.01.

All math errors aside, why would you tell the Attorney General PAC office you retired from the Road District on May 12th, 2017 when there are time cards signed by her that reflect comp time when she was no longer even employed?

Stay tuned for next week’s Time Card Tuesday that will close out the series with all of the 2015 time card errors.

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