09-06-2008, 07:50 PM
ZEPHYRHILLS - The city is paying almost $24,500 in back pay and other costs to former police Chief Russell Barnes and former police Sgt. Robert Perrault, both of whom resigned last month.
The city investigated both men in connection to payroll discrepancies within the police department.
Barnes quit Aug. 19 after City Manager Steve Spina asked for his resignation. An investigation concluded Barnes had falsified payroll records showing Perrault had been working for the city when he was actually teaching at Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Perrault, the department's former spokesman and head of internal affairs, resigned during the investigation to take a teaching position at Zephyrhills High School, which he applied for shortly before the investigation began.
Perrault was paid more than $2,000 for hours he did not work, mostly in 2006 and 2007, according to city records.
Both men denied any wrongdoing.
Barnes' net payout from the city will be just more than $10,420, including accrued vacation and sick time, as well as two weeks of severance pay.
"His attorney asked me for three months' severance" pay, Spina said.
The gross amount the city is paying Barnes was slightly more than $16,000.
Perrault will take home slightly more than $4,000, Spina said. The gross amount is more than $8,400, according to records.
He had asked for about $17,500 in back pay, including 550 hours of accrued sick time, 210 hours of vacation and 16 compensatory hours.
Under city policy, Perrault received about 30 percent of the sick pay he had accumulated, Spina said.
"The policy is based on years of service," he said. Perrault was with the agency for nine years.
The city's investigation concluded that Barnes created a log documenting so-called "flex time" that Perrault used to justify claiming the hours on the clock for both the city and the college. The city has no such policy on its books.
Spina said the city probably will lose the $2,000 Perrault was paid for hours he did not work.
"Unless we can go in and prove without a doubt that it was taken," he said. "We'd have to probably take him to court. We'd have to verify down to the penny what was lost."
He said city officials had not discussed legal action pertaining to the money Perrault was paid.
Last week, city officials launched another probe into payroll discrepancies in the police department. The new investigation focuses on Detective George W. MacKnight II, the department's major crimes investigator.
MacKnight, who was under Perrault's command, teaches criminal justice classes as an adjunct instructor at PHCC, like Perrault.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep/05/pa-zephyrhills-pays-former-officers/news-pasco/
The city investigated both men in connection to payroll discrepancies within the police department.
Barnes quit Aug. 19 after City Manager Steve Spina asked for his resignation. An investigation concluded Barnes had falsified payroll records showing Perrault had been working for the city when he was actually teaching at Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Perrault, the department's former spokesman and head of internal affairs, resigned during the investigation to take a teaching position at Zephyrhills High School, which he applied for shortly before the investigation began.
Perrault was paid more than $2,000 for hours he did not work, mostly in 2006 and 2007, according to city records.
Both men denied any wrongdoing.
Barnes' net payout from the city will be just more than $10,420, including accrued vacation and sick time, as well as two weeks of severance pay.
"His attorney asked me for three months' severance" pay, Spina said.
The gross amount the city is paying Barnes was slightly more than $16,000.
Perrault will take home slightly more than $4,000, Spina said. The gross amount is more than $8,400, according to records.
He had asked for about $17,500 in back pay, including 550 hours of accrued sick time, 210 hours of vacation and 16 compensatory hours.
Under city policy, Perrault received about 30 percent of the sick pay he had accumulated, Spina said.
"The policy is based on years of service," he said. Perrault was with the agency for nine years.
The city's investigation concluded that Barnes created a log documenting so-called "flex time" that Perrault used to justify claiming the hours on the clock for both the city and the college. The city has no such policy on its books.
Spina said the city probably will lose the $2,000 Perrault was paid for hours he did not work.
"Unless we can go in and prove without a doubt that it was taken," he said. "We'd have to probably take him to court. We'd have to verify down to the penny what was lost."
He said city officials had not discussed legal action pertaining to the money Perrault was paid.
Last week, city officials launched another probe into payroll discrepancies in the police department. The new investigation focuses on Detective George W. MacKnight II, the department's major crimes investigator.
MacKnight, who was under Perrault's command, teaches criminal justice classes as an adjunct instructor at PHCC, like Perrault.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/sep/05/pa-zephyrhills-pays-former-officers/news-pasco/