Somerset county treasurer tony DeLuca says county commissioners restricted access that he used to have over the ‘MUNIS’ payment system, used by county officials. He says he believes he should have oversight on payroll transactions.
“It's all about treating everyone fairly in this county. But, it's also about those $13,000 of taxpayers money that was illegally gave to an employee by the commissioners.” DeLuca says. According to Deluca, $12,780.45 to be exact.
This on top of a former employee that DeLuca says was discovered in 2022 to continue to be paid overtime. He says $80 thousand dollars, that was reportedly paid to the employee, has not been recovered.
I reached out to the Somerset County commissioners and they responded with a statement.
They say they are responsible for keeping the personal transactions of county employees secure and private saying these matters are “... not subject to the prying eyes of those who do not require that information to carry out their jobs.”
We talked to officials in several of other counties about treasurers accessing payroll. They explained each county is set up differently, but agreed that a treasurer usually doesn’t have access to payroll matters. They say that’s handled through other officers, such as the controller or human resources.
As far as denying DeLuca access, the commissioners say in that statement: "When we became aware these modules were available outside of the necessary departments, the Somerset County Commissioners upheld our responsibility as an employer."
The commissioners called DeLuca's claims inaccurate and say the county solicitor has addressed them.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfqLyusdGsnK1lk6TCr8DYZqurnZGowrOx0WaapZmZosBuvsSsq6uhk6mypXnAnJqeq6Nirq%2BwjKagrK2jmnqwsoytmLGoka6ys7%2BMpqannalisLC5zKKqrKGfo7Kzv4yrnJ%2BtpJp6orjLnp6arJmku7Q%3D