Warren official was overpaid

Safety / service director will pay back city after accidental raise

WARREN -- Safety / Service Director Eddie Colbert received a 2% raise which he should not have in 2021 according to a finding from the Ohio Auditor's report for the city.

A plan has been enacted for Colbert to reimburse Warren.

The report from the office of Auditor Keith Faber was a single audit for the year ending in Dec. 31, 2022. It was certified for release on Sept. 26, 2023.

The report said in 2021, Colbert's salary increased from $82,825.18 to $84,481.68 when it should not have.

The report said that from 2021 until the error was corrected in 2023, Colbert was overpaid $3,878.40, which he was ordered to repay to the city's general fund.

Colbert said the 2% salary increase was purely accidental.

"We 've already dealt with it, it 's nothing I did," Colbert said.

"I had no idea that it had ever happened. Once it was identified, we put the process in place."

City auditor Vince Flask said Colbert 's raise happened because of a "computer glitch," during a mass, 2% pay increase for city employees who fall under the policies and procedures classification.

Flask said that while Colbert falls into the policies and procedures category and receives its benefits accordingly, his salary is a separate matter.

"When the mass increase took place, he, being part of policies and procedures, automatically got that 2% increase even though his wage is supposed to be tied to the mayor 's wage," Flask said.

"He is not supposed to make over a certain amount. But he, being in that policies and procedures group, automatically got that 2% increase with everybody else. It was a payroll glitch, it has since been fixed."

Flask said Faber 's office gave Colbert two years to repay the amount owed to Warren. Flask said Colbert is making reimbursements every pay period.

"We added up what would 've been two years which would be 52 pays," Flask said. "We divided the amount by 52 pays, and that 's what he is paying back per pay."