For Immediate Release:                                                      

January 19, 2021                                                                    

Late Fees and Penalties Result in Finding for Recovery Against Allen County Regional Transit Authority Audit

Columbus – Auditor of State Keith Faber’s Office released the 2019 financial audit of the Allen County Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Late fees and penalties are not considered a proper public purpose for the use of tax dollars.

In 2019, the Allen County Regional Transit Authority paid late fees, penalties, and finance changes to various retail stores and to a bank for $659.48 as a result of not paying invoices in a timely manner.

Additionally, the following penalty and interest charges were assessed by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System against the Allen County RTA for the late reporting and payment of 2019 withholdings:

• February 19, 2019: a penalty charge of $146.97 and an interest charge of $30.57 on employer obligations. This was paid on April 3, 2019;
• March 15, 2019: a penalty charge of $736.85 and an interest charge of $129.69 on employer obligations. This was paid on June 11, 2019;
• April 3, 2019: a penalty charge of $81.28 on February 28, 2019 late reporting of retirement contributions. This was paid on June 4, 2019;
• April 4, 2019: an interest charge of $1.82 on employer obligations. This was paid on June 4, 2019;
• April 15, 2019: a penalty charge of $1,105.28 and an interest charge of $365.67 on employer obligations. This was paid on June 11, 2019;
• May 15, 2019: a penalty charge of $1,842.13 and an interest charge of $355.77 on employer obligations. This was paid on June 11, 2019;
• June 5, 2019: a penalty charge of $48.18 for late reporting of January 31, 2019 retirement contributions. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 6, 2019: a penalty charge of $67.46 and an interest charge of $19.64 on employer obligations. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 10, 2019: a penalty charge of $49.87 for late report of February 28, 2019 retirement contributions. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 10, 2019: a penalty charge of $49.87 for late report of March 31, 2019 retirement contributions. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 10, 2019: a penalty charge of $9.97 for late report of April 30, 2019 retirement contributions. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 11, 2019: an interest charge of $22.35 on employer obligations. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
•  June 11, 2019: a penalty charge of $104.75 on employer obligations. This was paid on July 31, 2019;
• June 17, 2019: an interest charge of $288.18 on employer obligations. This was paid on July 31, 2019.

The total amount of penalty and interest charges paid to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System was $5,456.30.

Former Executive Director, Shelia Haney, was the authorized signatory on the account from which these payments were issued, thus a finding for recovery was issued against Haney for $6,115 in favor of the Allen County Regional Transit Authority.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government.