Ugi, Historic Architecture Topics In Waverly

Chance Of Trauma Makes High School Football A No-brainer Commentary Daniel Akst

A pension should not have been paid to the widow of a deceased police officer, the state says.


HUGHESTOWN &ndash; Hughestown borough has been ordered to repay nearly $15,000 to the state after an audit showed council improperly approved pension benefits for the wife of a deceased police officer.
The audit, released in January by the state Auditor General&rsquo;s Office, determined the borough had paid a total of $35,500 from 2003 o 2007 to the surviving spouse of former police chief George DeLucia, but she was not entitled to receive the funds under state pension law.
The improper payment resulted in the state, which pays a portion of pension costs of municipalities, overpaying the borough $14,670 from 2004 to 2008, the audit said. The Auditor General&rsquo;s Office has directed the borough to reimburse the state for that money and to again review whether the payments should continue.
 The issue was among two problems the audit, which covered the period Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2007, uncovered with the police pension fund. 
Auditors also determined the borough has been paying a disability pension to former officer Edward Judge since 2006, but has failed to provide documentation showing that Judge&rsquo;s disability was service-related.
In DeLucia&rsquo;s case, the audit found the borough has been paying the benefits to DeLucia&rsquo;s widow, Delores, since he died in April 2003, even though the benefit was not authorized by either the borough&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement or state pension law.
When questioned about the payment, the borough was unable to provide any documentation to support the amount of the payment, or the basis for its decision to award her the pension, the audit says.
The circumstances surrounding the awarding of the pension benefits were not clear. Neither Mayor Paul Hindmarsh nor the borough&rsquo;s solicitor, Miriam D&rsquo;Elia, returned phone messages Friday or Monday. Attempts to reach several council members, including council President Wayne Quick and Councilwoman Marie Griglock, were also unsuccessful.
Councilwoman Barbara Gatto on Friday said she believes the problems regarding DeLucia&rsquo;s pension, which she said is still being paid to his spouse, stemmed from a &ldquo;glitch&rdquo; with the state. She said the borough is in the process of resolving the matter.
&ldquo;The state came in and there was something there in the wording they weren&rsquo;t in agreement with,&rdquo; she said. 
Gatto said any decision made was done with the approval of its solicitor at the time, attorney Mark Singer. Singer on Friday said he does not recall council ever seeking his input on the propriety of the payment to DeLucia&rsquo;s spouse.
Singer said he was unaware of any issues with the DeLucia pension until about two years ago, when a council member contacted him to ask him to provide an affidavit stating that Singer had made the agreement with DeLucia to provide the benefits to his wife.
&ldquo;I was asked to prepare an affidavit as to my meeting with DeLucia. I never met with him with regard to this issue,&rdquo; Singer said. &ldquo;I never made an agreement with George. That would not be my place.&rdquo;
As for the issue regarding Judge&rsquo;s pension, Singer said he believes there is documentation that supports the decision to award him a disability pension.
Singer said the borough had disputed Judge&rsquo;s claim that the injury he suffered that led to his retirement was related to his service. The dispute went to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled in Judge&rsquo;s favor, he said.
The audit notes that the borough has stated that it has attempted to obtain the requested documentation from a prior plan administrator, but has been unable to do so.
The audit again directs the borough to seek the documentation, warning that failure to do so will result in Judge&rsquo;s pension being deemed ineligible for funding by the state. That could result the in borough having to repay state aid it receives for his pension in the future.


&ldquo;The state came in and there was something there in the wording they weren&rsquo;t in agreement with.&rdquo;

Borough councilwoman

Hughestown Must Repay $15,000