Nicholas Donaldson
Incorrect information, multiple revisions, and stress during tax season were among the problems the Rainy River District School Board apologized for at its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday (March 7).
The errors involving T4 forms sent to board employees, caused by a new payroll system and changing staff in the board’s Finance Department, created confusion and concern about incorrect tax information.
The T4s with incorrect information were sent to board employees in February, with revised forms then sent out in response.
But after more errors were found, some employees then received new forms that had been amended.
Board chair Dianne McCormack, Director of Education Heather Campbell, and Superintendent of Business Laura Mills all spoke about the situation at Tuesday’s meeting and apologized for the trouble it caused.
A letter from Campbell then was sent out Friday, explaining what happened and what has been done to address it.
The letter, addressed and sent to all board employees, apologized for “the errors and confusion surrounding the 2016 T4 forms.”
“I wish to acknowledge the frustration that teachers and other board employees felt, and are feeling, as they learned about these problems and discussed them with their colleagues,” Campbell wrote.
“We value the many roles that our educators and support staff fill, which are central to our mission as a school board,” she added.
Campbell said one of the reasons the new payroll system was instituted was to be able to pay employees twice a month, instead of just once.
“Although it is by no means an excuse, transitioning to a new accounting and payroll system is one of the reasons these errors occurred,” she noted.
“Another reason was the changes in staff in the board’s Finance Department,” she explained.
The letter also noted tests were conducted in preparation for sending out the T4s but the board still ran into difficulties.
Campbell reiterated in the letter that these are not meant to be excuses. Rather, she said she just wanted to provide some background on the circumstances the board was were working with.
The letter noted the issues arose from how the information was transferred from the system onto the individual T4s.
For instance, the initial run of T4s did not report Teachers’ Pension Plan deductions and so revised forms were issued Feb. 27.
The board then discovered OMERS contributions also were reported incorrectly on the T4s and amended ones were issued March 2.
This meant some employees got revised T4s while others got both revised and amended T4s.
Employees were concerned about which information was correct, and whether the correct amounts were paid, deducted, and reported for each individual.
The letter added that for some employees, the board also deducted too much or too little for the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI).
Campbell wrote this cannot be fixed with a new T4, but assured the mistakes will show up and be reconciled when tax returns are filed.
The letter explained there will be no penalty if not enough was deducted as long as the return is filed on time and the amounts are paid.
The amounts would be no more than $64.35 for CPP and $24.44 for EI.
If employees had too much deducted, the amounts will be refunded through the tax return.
“Looking ahead, we are doing an internal review and testing of our payroll and T4 processes,” Campbell pledged.
The letter concluded by saying any board employees with questions can contact the Finance Department, which will be happy to answer them.
During last Tuesday’s board meeting, McCormack acknowledged a letter she received from an employee concerning the trouble caused by the situation.
That letter also was seen by the board and senior administration.
McCormack apologized for the errors made and the subsequent problems that affected employees during tax season.
She admitted that this time of year was stressful enough for employees trying to file their taxes.
Mills, meanwhile, gave her report to trustees at last Tuesday’s meeting.
She outlined the difficulties the Finance Department had with the new payroll program and the many changes to staff in the past few months.
Mills said the department is going to do a complete debriefing of the situation and review the entire system to avoid further problems.
When asked by a trustee, Mills replied the problems were caused by system problems and certain circumstances of staff.
“We want to apologize for all the struggles that staff have had,” McCormack reiterated.
“We are now working to soften these problems and learning what to watch for in the future,” she noted.
