Pa. Ethics Commission orders Greene Township officials to pay $6,000 for bonuses violation

Three Greene Township supervisors, who in 2021 awarded themselves $10,000 bonuses, will now each have to pay $6,000 back to the township, according to an order released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission .

The order stated that former township supervisors Natalie Zimmer and Richard Allgeier, and current supervisor John Bartnicki, violated the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act when they signed off on the bonus checks without a formal approval from the township’s auditors.

Zimmer, Allgeier and Bartnicki, as part of a consent agreement with the state, were ordered to repay $6,000 each no later than 30 days after June 21, the date the order was mailed. They were also directed to file amended statements of financial interests for calendar years 2018 through 2021.

Here’s what to know.

More on the bonuses: Greene Township officials say $10,000 bonuses from ARP funds are legal, deserved

What happened?

In 2021, Zimmer, Allgeier and Bartnicki agreed to provide premium pay bonuses of $10,000 using American Rescue Plan funds to each of the township's 10 employees, including themselves. Erie News Now first reported the activity in November 2021.

In May 2021, the supervisors approved a resolution that acknowledged the township’s pending receipt of $222,008 in American Rescue Plan funds. In July 2021, after the funds arrived, the supervisors authorized the issuance of the $10,000 checks "outside of a public meeting and without a public vote," according to the commission.

While the American Rescue Plan allows for premium pay to those who worked at heightened risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, including government workers, Pennsylvania's second class township code requires that a three-member board of auditors set the pay for supervisors if they also serve in the capacity as a township employee.

Auditors Joseph Kaliszewski and James Kennerknecht, along with then-Auditor Natalie Quigley, were not asked to approve the premium pay bonuses until October, three months after Zimmer, Allgeier and Bartnicki were issued their checks.

In a February 2022 interview with the Erie Times-News , Kennerknecht said he fielded a call from a township secretary in early October 2021, alerting him to the need for auditor approval.

"I didn't feel like I was (being put on the spot), I knew I was," he said. "Now, we've never had a pandemic before. We've never had bonus money before. But I know the auditors are supposed to approve (supervisors' pay) before they have a public meeting. They had a public meeting, which I wasn't at, and that's how they said they were going to divide the (American Rescue Plan) money up. Several months later, that's when I got the call."

Kaliszewski and Kennerknecht signed off on the checks in October 2021. Quigley declined over concerns of its appropriateness, according to the commission's report.

Kaliszewski said using the funding for employee premium pay was legal, but he was displeased about the size of the bonuses and also learning about them after the fact.

"I was not happy," he said in an earlier interview with the Erie Times-News . "It's not really the right thing to do."

Zimmer, Allgeier and Bartnicki were directed to not accept any reimbursement, compensation or other payment from the township representing a full or partial reimbursement of the amount paid in settlement of this matter, according to the commission.

Zimmer and Allgeier are both former township supervisors. Zimmer served as vice-chairperson of the township board of supervisors from Jan. 3, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2023. Allgeier served as board chairman from Jan. 6, 2014, through Jan. 2, 2022.

Bartnicki is the current board chairman and began his tenure in Jan. 3, 2022.

Officials dodge questions: Greene Township officials dodge legal, ethical questions over $10,000 bonuses

Staff writer Matt Rink contributed to this report.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com . Follow him on X @ETNRao .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pa. Ethics Commission orders Greene Township officials to pay $6,000 for bonuses violation