{"id":547120,"date":"2026-03-26T21:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/547120\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T21:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:12:12","slug":"tullytown-made-unauthorized-pension-payments-auditor-general-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/547120\/","title":{"rendered":"Tullytown Made Unauthorized Pension Payments, Auditor General Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>File photo<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Auditor General\u2019s Office has directed Tullytown Borough to halt monthly disability payments to a police officer who was rehired and work to reimburse nearly $60,000 to pension fund.<\/p>\n

According to an auditor general\u2019s office pension compliance audit<\/a> from last week, the borough continued to pay a service-related disability pension to the officer despite a March 2025 vote by the borough council to rehire the individual as a part-time officer.<\/p>\n

The audit identified the payments as a \u201cdirect violation\u201d of the borough\u2019s pension ordinance and collective bargaining agreement. <\/p>\n

Under those rules, a \u201ctotal and permanent disability\u201d is defined as a condition that prevents an individual from engaging in any police employment.<\/p>\n

The unnamed officer sustained a serious line-of-duty injury in March 2018 and was granted a disability pension of approximately $4,948 per month in June 2019, the auditor general\u2019s office found.<\/p>\n

State auditors stated the payments remained in effect after the officer returned to active part-time duty.<\/p>\n

The report stated the action totaled tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized spending.<\/p>\n

Advertisements<\/p>\n

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The auditor general\u2019s office noted that borough officials were made aware of the findings. <\/p>\n

\u201cMunicipal officials agreed with the finding without exception,\u201d the auditors wrote.<\/p>\n

Along with ceasing the payments, the state recommended that the borough reimburse the pension plan for all disability benefits paid out after the officer\u2019s reemployment with the municipality of nearly 2,300 residents.<\/p>\n

DelawareValleyNews.com first reported on the audit findings<\/a>, and Tullytown Borough Mayor Joe Shellenberger told the publication: \u201cWe are aware of the auditor general report. The officer in question is not currently employed as a police officer, but rather as a records clerk, he has been most helpful. We are going to consult with an attorney to find out if this man can still be employed. If we do not hear from them by April 30,2026, the employee will be terminated. If it comes back that he can still work, that matter will then go before council to determine what to do next\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police pension plans receive local tax dollars, employee contributions, and state aid. In Tullytown Borough, officers participating have to contribute five percent of their pay to the plan.<\/p>\n

The borough\u2019s police pension plan was established in 1985. It has three active members, three terminated members eligible for benefits in the future, and eight retirees receiving pension benefits. The plan has a value of $5.7 million.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Sofield<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Sofield has covered news in Bucks County for 16 years for both newspaper and online publications. Tom\u2019s reporting has appeared locally, nationally, and internationally across several mediums. He is proud to report on news in the county where he lives and to have created a reliable publication that the community deserves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"File photo The Pennsylvania Auditor General\u2019s Office has directed Tullytown Borough to halt monthly disability payments to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":["post-547120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}