Wilmington retrieves $70K accidentally paid to dead pensioner, treasurer says

Most of the over $70,000 mistakenly paid to a dead Wilmington pensioner has been returned to city coffers, Treasurer Velda Jones-Potter announced on Friday.

The city accidentally issued pension payments to the spouse of a former city employee for 20 years after her death, The News Journal reported in September. 

Jones-Potter said it was an "extremely unusual occurrence" and that to prevent future occurrences, she hired a contractor to review Social Security information monthly, or more frequently as needed. 

"Back in December, I expressed to Wilmington taxpayers my commitment to protecting the city's financial assets," she said in a statement. "Today, I hope this reassures them of that."

Jones-Potter credited her staff, the city law department and the bank for recovering the money.

The treasurer, who took office in January 2017, said $70,019 was paid in error to the deceased pensioner from 1997 to 2016. The audit that revealed the error said overpayments totaled $72,966.60. Jones-Potter did not immediately respond to a question about that discrepancy. 

All but $485 has been returned, according to Jones-Potter.

Although some records are "too outdated to determine with certainty," the remaining amount was likely bank fees charged over the recovery period, Jones-Potter said.

The $69,561 has been deposited into the city's pension payroll account, she said. 

"I don't like leaving a dime on the table, but for an error that was on-going for 20 years, I'm pleased with 99.3 percent recovered," Jones-Potter said. 

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, cjedra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

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