Pay irregularities lead to suspension of Westmoreland’s purchasing director and deputy

Aug. 28 — Westmoreland County’s purchasing director and his deputy were suspended without pay amid allegations that they and four employees were paid for extended workdays without prior approval.

Purchasing Director Kristopher Cardiff and his deputy Kristen Coyne have been out of office since Aug. 15 after the County Commission approved the suspensions of both administrators.

The decision came after the finance department discovered payroll records totaling more than $19,500 in unauthorized increases.

County officials say purchasing employees were unfairly paid for working an extra 30 minutes a day for the past year.

The Greensburg courthouse is open to the public weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. As a result, most employees, including purchasing employees, are paid based on a 6.5-hour workday.

The Purchasing Department oversees all purchases of equipment and supplies for the county. It also manages the courthouse mail and printing services.

For Cardiff, who earns $70,314 annually, the extra pay has added up to more than $5,300 since last August. Coyne’s annual salary is about $47,000, and she has received more than $3,600 in extra pay, according to county records.

Four unionized officials also received extra pay in the past 12 months, according to pay records from the county comptroller’s office. Those employees were not penalized, remain on their jobs and will not have to pay back the money, according to Comptroller Jeffrey Balzer.

Cardiff, who was appointed as head of procurement in November 2022, continues as leader of Trafford Council.

Cardiff disputes allegations

In an emailed response to TribLive on Wednesday, he denied the accusations.

“That is clearly false and I have been completely surprised and shocked by the whole situation. Until you contacted me today, I was under the impression that this was an internal HR issue and I believed that it would be resolved shortly as some kind of misunderstanding,” Cardiff said.

Cardiff alleged that last year the county’s finance director and a human resources official ordered him to raise the pay of purchasing employees to allow Department of Social Services employees to provide additional delivery services outside the courthouse.

In a formal written response to Cardiff County Council, he said he mistakenly believed he had the authority to implement pay increases.

“I absolutely and completely deny that I took any action with the intent to defraud or defraud the county in any way. No action I took directly was ever taken with the intent, knowledge or knowing that it was beyond the scope of what I was authorized to do. Theft, as defined in county policy, is unlawful taking, and I did not take any action that I did not honestly believe I was authorized and instructed to do by my superiors,” he wrote.

County officials declined to comment on the allegations, but Commissioner Ted Kopas confirmed an investigation was ongoing.

Balzer said that this summer, during a routine review of payroll records, employees discovered what he described as “irregularities.”

Balzer and three commissioners serve as the county’s compensation board, responsible for approving employment and compensation matters.

According to records of public board pay meetings from last year, there has never been an official vote on a pay raise for purchasing employees. Balzer said Cardiff proposed a pay raise for the department last summer to reflect the extra 30 minutes of work per day, but that proposal never came to a board vote.

Explaining why it took a year to discover the extra pay for purchasing workers, Balzer said: “There have been a lot of salaries that have been raised by half an hour, and we’ve done that in a lot of places. It’s not like we don’t check.”

Over the past year, the pay board approved adding one extra hour to the workday of administrative and other select park police, sheriff, social services, finance and mental health staff.

The director of the county finance office now oversees the purchasing department.

“I hope purchasing duties will continue without disruption,” Kopas said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at [email protected].