ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – FOX 2 has learned of a reported overpayment to the St. Louis County auditor of over $10,000.
Last month, an employee of St. Louis County government caught the apparent overpayment. It’s calculated to be an overpayment of $10,015.20, according to county records, paid to Auditor Toni Jackson. It’s reported to have begun with overpayments starting in June 2022.
County emails, obtained by the FOX Files, show the attempt to recover it with a payroll email on June 24 stating, “Her pay record needs to be updated to put her back to her original salary of $119,995.00.”
An overpaid salary is more common than you might think, according to attorney Paige Sparks.
“A lot of people reach out to me when they realize. They usually get a letter from HR saying, ‘We know there’s this overpayment; you have to pay it back immediately,’” Sparks said. “Ignorance is not an excuse for being overpaid and keeping the money. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Whether you’re a government employee or not, you are responsible for paying back overpayments, even if it’s not your fault or you don’t notice as it adds up, Sparks added.
The auditor overpayment case is unusual because it’s based on two salary increases instituted by individual chairwomen, which payroll says were not allowed by county ordinance.
They involved a reported 2022 pay increase awarded by then chairwoman Rita Heard Days and a reported 2023 pay increase awarded by current chairwoman Sholanda Webb. The payroll department alleges, however, that neither pay raise is legitimate because they did not get required board approval.
An HR representative added in an email to the auditor, “You have been making in excess of what the county council ordinance states the auditor can make monthly/annually. The council voted on Oct. 28, 2021, to pay you $120,000 annually. Since then, there has been no subsequent vote of the council raising your salary.”
Attorney Sparks commented, “It certainly sounds like a messy situation and that’s not good optics for the auditor.”
FOX 2 made several attempts to get a comment from the auditor, starting with a visit to her office Monday afternoon. A receptionist said she wasn’t in. We visited again on Tuesday and were told the auditor was not in the office.
The emails we obtained show Auditor Jackson has asked for more information but has not made deduction arrangements.
Council members are just finding out about this; some of them acknowledge they’re finding out for the first time from FOX 2.
Councilwoman Days declined an interview about her role but answered, saying this is a personnel issue. Council Chairwoman Sholanda Webb hasn’t responded to several calls and emails to her office.
