DuBois- DuBois City Council will now have to open a new payroll checking account after fraudulent activity was detected.
It was announced at Monday night’s council meeting by City/Township Manager, Shawn Arbaugh, that a “yet to be identified individual” recently used the city’s account to write a total of 13 low amount checks to different recipients.
In other business council discussed looking into increasing the yearly fee on games of skill.
According to Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer Zac Lawhead, there are currently 75 games of skill machines operating in city including bars and clubs.
Currently the fee is $100 per machine per year and council is exploring the idea to increasing the amount to $1,000/year.
No action was taken at this point as concerns were noted on whether the bars and clubs would be exempt from the price increase should it go through.
Pensions
For 2025, the City of DuBois will pay $955,127 as its minimum obligation to the non-uniform pension. The City has two pensions it maintains for its employees- the non-uniform pension being for non-union employees, and the police union’s pension. This is around a $200 thousand increase from 2024 where the obligation was $766,266.
The yearly MMO is based on the projected total W-2 payroll. For 2024 that is $2,386,743 according to paperwork provided to the media.
According to City Mayor Pat Reasinger, contributed the increase to decisions made in prior years that made the pension overly generous. Some of the changes have been reversed.
When asked by a member of the public about switching to a 401k, Reasinger responded with “We’re not allowed,” stating that 3rd class cities, which DuBois is, are legally required to have defined benefits.
Trees
Thanks to a grant from Giant, parent company of Martins, the City of DuBois will be planting 40-50 trees. Maple Avenue will be the first location. This $4,000 grant requires the trees to be planted on public land and to use native trees.
Other Business
Council voted unanimously to rescind the vote to approve the new employee handbook.
The now former handbook was admittedly voted into service without getting input from either the union or non-union employees.
Currently the city has gotten input and questions from the non-union employees and is waiting to hear from the union employees.
The city council also wanted to remind the public that all invoices are available for public viewing on their website.