Dem-led Buffalo clerk who ‘tampered with fire department payroll’ to pad her checks was paid a staggering $500,000 while on administrative leave for SEVEN YEARS
A City Hall clerk accused of tampering with payroll to cover her checks has been paid more than half a million dollars while on administrative leave.
Jill Repman was suspended from the Buffalo City Fire Department after twice tampering with the system to increase her take-home pay in 2016.
But the mother of three remained on paid leave from the Dem-run city office for nearly eight years pending a resolution to the disciplinary charge against her, police said. Research station.
She took home $572,000 during the seven and a half year period she was suspended, and during that time she took another job.
Repman, 56, took the second private sector job — again working on the payroll — at Allwel Western New York in 2017, according to a now-deleted biography on their website.
Jill Repman was suspended from the Buffalo City Fire Department after twice tampering with the system to increase her take-home pay in 2016
But the mother of three remained on paid leave from the Dem-run city office for nearly eight years, pending resolution of the disciplinary charge against her.
The fire department was unable to transfer a call to Repman when DailyMail.com contacted her, but did not deny she had returned to work.
She had worked for the city for 22 years and was placed on administrative leave in February 2016 from the $59,926-a-year senior administrative assistant job.
Fillmore County Council member Mitch Nowakowski told the Investigative Post that Repman had recently returned to work with the fire department, calling the situation “maddening.”
“It is very disturbing that we have someone on the city payroll who has been paid quite well (over $70,000 per year) for seven and a half years,” he said.
“I do not work or perform any duties on behalf of the City of Buffalo. It’s alarming. I mean, this is an erosion of the trust of entities charged with managing city taxpayers’ money.”
The councilor added that he viewed the situation as “a collapse of multiple entities within the city government” that were responsible for “timely resolving” the allegations against Repman.
The Buffalo mayor’s office confirmed to Nowakowski that Repman was ordered back to work in September.
According to reports, Repman collected a salary from the city on August 31, which reports say will create a wall of silence around public officials’ situation.
Repman, 56, took the second private sector job — again working on the payroll — at Allwel Western New York in 2017, according to a now-deleted biography on their website
Fillmore County Council member Mitch Nowakowski told the Investigative Post that Repman recently had to return to work at the fire department.
The Buffalo mayor’s office confirmed to Nowakowski that Repman was ordered back to work in September
DailyMail.com did not receive a response to a request for comment from the city or Alwell about her employment status.
She started working for the city in November 1994, under her married name Parsis, starting as a civilian employee with the police department and moving to the fire department two years later.
According to a Buffalo News report at the time, Rempan was paid for overtime, with her base salary set at $36,000 in 2009.
City payroll records show Repman (left) was paid $2,727 on Aug. 31.
In 2016, Repman filed for bankruptcy and lost her home in Buffalo after racking up nearly $4,193,000 in debt.
Court records show she spent the money on home loans, back taxes, credit card bills and unpaid attorney fees.
She is accused of logging into the fire department’s payroll system from home to change her Social Security and Medicare FICA deductions and increase her take-home pay by a few hundred dollars.
Repman is accused of doing this twice, with the first payment being made and the administrator changing the details again.
The second time she was caught by the control office, prompting an investigation. This led to the administration filing disciplinary charges against her.
She was suspended without pay for 30 days, after which the city resumed her wage payments until the charges against her were resolved.
It’s unclear if there were ever any meetings for the disciplinary charges, but Repman is now accused of pocketing nearly half a million dollars from the city.
The fire brigade was unable to transfer a call to Repman when contacted by DailyMail.com, but did not deny that she had returned to work
She is accused of logging into the fire department’s payroll system from home to change her Social Security and Medicare FICA deductions and increase her take-home pay by a few hundred dollars.
The city’s payroll records show it received $2,727 as of Aug. 31 and has received $15,000 since July 1 because of longevity bonuses.
Repman could bring in more than $72,000 in the city’s current budget year, and was paid $572,067 between 2016 and 2023, according to the Empire Center.
Due to New York labor laws, Repman can still earn health and retirement benefits, vacation and sick leave while on paid leave.
If she stays on the payroll until November next year, she will have been on the payroll for 30 years – meaning she will be eligible for an annual state pension of $42,577.
In 2016, Michael Dlopen — then president of AFSCME Local 650 — told The Buffalo News that the union would defend Repman against the city’s disciplinary charges.
“She has not committed any wrongdoing, and as soon as the facts come to light, that will be proven,” he said. When contacted by the Investigative Post, he said he had “no idea” what the current situation is.
Nowakowski added that the mayor’s office would not tell him if there was a settlement or resolution to Repman’s disciplinary charge.
He said, “They confirmed she was on paid administrative leave for seven and a half years.”
“They have confirmed she is back working locally in the city of Buffalo.”
According to reports, Repman donated $2,980 to mayoral campaign committees between 2007 and 2015 under her married name.
She donated another $200 to the Committee for Change, a defunct campaign committee led by Brown’s former deputy mayor, Steve Casey.