BARNESVILLE - The Ryan Township Board of Supervisors voted at Monday's meeting to have the township board of auditors resubmit its request for payment of hours worked.
The supervisors decided to have the three bills resubmitted in order to comply with the directions in the Second Class Township Code dealing with auditor's compensation.
Board of auditors members are Carole A. Syzdek, David J. Kintz Jr. and Daniel Lynch. They are elected for six-year terms and operate as a board separate from the township supervisors.
The subject was raised when the supervisors were preparing the payment of bills. The auditors' request was not on the list of bills, but township resident Linda Fetter spoke up outside of the public portion of the meeting to ask the supervisors questions about it.
"I saw the invoice that they submitted, but the invoice was not properly submitted," Fetter said. "They're supposed to bill $10 for every hour, and it is not billed that way.
According to the Second Class Township Code, Section 902, Auditor's Compensation:
"Each auditor shall receive ten dollars ($10) for each hour necessarily employed in the duties of the office upon presentation to the board of supervisors of an itemized listing of the dates, times, places and hours worked to perform the audit. No auditor in a township having a population of ten thousand or less is entitled to receive more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for completing the annual audit, settlement and adjustment. No auditor in a township having a population in excess of ten thousand is entitled to receive more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) for completing the annual audit settlement and adjustment."
Auditors can also be reimbursed for travel costs incurred while performing their auditing duties.
The auditing board submitted an invoice totaling $1,750.
"They always did it in the old form," supervisors Vice Chairman Clyde "Champ" Holman said.
"They were paid a certain amount for so many meetings, but now the code says it's more like a time sheet," supervisors Secretary Franklin Fetter, the husband of Linda Fetter, said.
"If the invoice is wrong, then return it to them and ask them to resubmit it consistent with Section 902," township solicitor Christopher Riedlinger said.
Holman added that paperwork was incorrectly submitted to the state Department of Community and Economic Development as required. Linda Fetter said the audit report has not been advertised in the newspaper.
"They have to get some training," said Holman. "There are courses for auditors that they should take."
"They also didn't set the salaries for the supervisors working with the road crew," Franklin Fetter said.
"I could do an outline for you of the auditors' requirements and what they have to do," said Riedlinger, with Holman agreeing with the outline idea.
The supervisors approved the list of bills, other from that auditors, for payment.
"We'll have to get that straightened out for the next meeting," said Chairman David Morgan.