HARRISBURG – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor announced the release of audits of 46 municipal and police pension plans, including that of Horton Township in Elk County.

The non-uniformed pension plan in Horton Township was administered in compliance with state laws, except as noted in two findings: Partial compliance with prior recommendation and failure to properly fund members’ accounts.

Regarding the prior recommendation, the audit report explained the township reimbursed $617 to the state for excess state aid received in 2014 through 2017. “However, plan officials again failed to reconcile the state aid allocations with the plan’s annual defined contribution pension costs,” the report noted.

A similar condition occurred during the period covered by this audit. In 2018, the township received $35 in excess aid, in 2019, $126, in 2020, $47, in 2021, $11, and in 2022, $45.

The township failed to implement procedures to correct it, and must return the excess to the state.

The second finding was that the township did not properly fund the accounts of two plan members from 2019 through 2022. Plan members are to receive $1,500; the audit showed where the employees had been overpaid.

The township officials agreed with the audit findings and agreed to implement corrective measures.

“Our audits make sure your local taxes are used correctly to fund pension plans for municipal workers like police and firefighters,” DeFoor said. “We make sure municipal and police pension plans follow the law, contracts, administrative procedures, local ordinances and policies.”

State aid for municipal pension plans is generated by a 2 percent tax on fire and casualty insurance policies sold in Pennsylvania by out-of-state companies. In 2022, the Department of the Auditor General distributed a total of $329 million in aid to 1,453 municipalities and regional departments to support pension plans covering police officers, paid firefighters and non-uniformed employees.

The department is required by law to audit municipal pension plans and volunteer fire relief associations that receive state aid from the department; liquid fuels tax usage by municipalities; various county offices and numerous other state government entities.