Former Mad River employee continued to receive paycheck 9 months after resignation, leading to finding for recovery

A finding for recovery of $8,256 was issued recently against a former employee of the Mad River Local School District in Montgomery County, who continued to receive paychecks for nine months after she resigned, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced.

Kelcee Wright Moreo had already repaid $2,460 of the total and reached an agreement with the district to cover the remainder, meaning the finding was resolved under audit.

The issue was identified during a review of the school district’s finances from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.

Copies of the full report are available online at Search Audits (ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx).

Moreo resigned from the district on Jan. 13, 2023, but continued to receive paychecks through Sept. 15, 2023. Auditors noted, “The district should implement procedures to verify that payments to employees are timely terminated after they have left employment. Failure to timely terminate payments could result in overpayments not being detected and could lead to the issuance of findings for recovery in future audits.”

In their official response, district officials said the error was the result of a retirement at the payroll services provider contracted to handle the work. The district subsequently hired a payroll specialist and instituted additional internal controls to prevent further issues.

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