Nick McWilliams reporting – As current Uhrichsville Auditor Becky Carpenter is set to resign at the end of the year, city officials have asked her to stay to keep payroll on track.

Carpenter submitted her letter of resignation earlier this year, citing frustrations with what she felt was a lack of support, issues porting over the city’s finances into a new system, and hours beyond what her job description required.

Mayor Mark Haney told council during their last meeting that he asked Carpenter to stay in a reduced capacity.

“I’ve asked her to stay on and do payroll, because we have three Collective Bargaining Agreements, and those agreements are very specific on pay periods and not being paid on time. I’ve given you some information on that discussion, and hopefully we can introduce some legislation at the next meeting to fulfill that.”

The mayor also submitted a letter to council which outlined some options for the city and the auditor to move forward, which included changes to compensation and job requirements.

Haney says that a failure to fulfill payroll during a pay period could lead to union grievances against the city from all affected employees.

An interim auditor will be appointed in the meantime once Carpenter steps down at the end of the year, with the city’s Law Director J.J. Ong looking into options for appointing the next full-time auditor.

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