By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
ARBELA TWP. — An auditing firm ruled in September that Arbela Township officials made “proper” contributions to a pension plan for hourly employees, but it didn’t settle tensions between residents at the November 11 township Board of Trustees meeting.
While Joann Helmbold demanded a public apology from critics who have called for auditors to examine the contributions, Tracy Anderson confronted James Bucy, who has asked for an audit and said an auditor’s initial report indicated too much money had been sent to the pension fund.
During recent meetings, Bucy has traded words with township Clerk Mary C. Warren about the issue, though a Sept. 25 statement by Saginaw County auditing firm Smith & Klaczkiewicz P.C. noted the township’s contributions from 2009 through 2013 were “made at the proper rate and … in accordance with the provisions” of the plan.
“Your math was wrong, wasn’t it?” Anderson asked Bucy. “Your math, because you’re the one who said (Warren) was dirty!”
“I never said she was dirty,” Bucy replied.
As Bucy and Anderson debated in the audience during the portion of the meeting set for public comment, Lana Martell tried to interrupt them.
“Talk to the (chairman),” Martell urged. “Don’t talk to each other. Talk to the chair! You’re supposed to speak to the chair. You don’t speak to each other.”
Earlier in the meeting, Bucy said he wanted it understood that the board requested the auditors to examine the pension plan, prompting a response from Warren.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Warren said. “Hey. The board did not request the audit. (Supervisor) Ken (Panek) did.”
“But how many months did we have to listen to accusations about (Warren) being dirty before the request was put in?” Anderson asked from the audience.
“I guess you’ll have to listen every month you come in,” Bucy replied. Seconds later, he added “If you don’t like that, I guess that’s just tough.”
In September, Panek said auditors found “improper” pension contributions when conducting the township’s annual audit. After auditors reviewed the actual language in the pension-plan document, though, they issued the Sept. 25 report determining that the township’s contributions were proper.
The five members of the Board of Trustees voted in September to end their 24-year practice of paying township money to their own pension plans. The plan’s purpose is to provide monthly pension payments to retired township officials or workers.
In accordance with its pension-plan document, the township continues paying money to the pension funds of “full-time employees working at least 30 hours per week, at least five months per year,” which includes employees Deborah M. Cerasoli and John D. Gunnels.
Treasurer Jody Hunt said at Monday’s meeting that the auditing firm’s Sept. 25 report on the pension-plan contributions “vindicated” Warren.
“Yes, that’s true,” Panek responded.
Warren said the auditing firm’s examination of the pension plan cost the township $700.
“If people make some accusation and it’s founded and those people are correct, then the board needs to absorb the cost of an audit,” Helmbold said at Monday’s meeting. “But if I come up here and start making charges, and you incur the cost of an audit, (the bill) needs to come back to me.”
The comment drew a round of applause from some audience members.
“We need an apology — publicly — when people can come up and shoot off their mouths and accuse people of things, and then an audit finds out that (elected officials) are right,” Helmbold said.
Township Trustee Wayne Schultz said no one should blame Panek for the auditors’ findings. He said the $700 cost for auditors’ examination of the pension-plan contributions is “nothing” compared to some expenses incurred by the township.