Jan. 9—OTTAWA — A portion of Ohio’s settlement with Dollar General will benefit two local food pantries.

The discount retailer agreed to pay Ohio $1 million last fall for failing to correct prices when customers were charged more at the register than the prices listed on display shelves, according to a press release about the settlement.

Putnam County Auditor Robert Benroth on Tuesday awarded $6,000 in settlement funds the county received to be split between the Ottawa Food Pantry and Lords Food Pantry in Columbus Grove.

“(We) couldn’t give money back to the people who were ripped off,” Benroth said, “so (Attorney General Dave Yost) said ‘why don’t we give it to food banks?'”

The case started in Butler County but expanded as county auditors, who inspect retail prices to protect consumers, discovered similar pricing errors at Dollar General stores in their counties.

The retailer operates nearly 1,000 stores in Ohio alone.

“Most people don’t shop at Dollar General because they have a lot of extra money to spend,” Yost told the auditors at a conference about the settlement last November, according to the release. “So when a bottle of shampoo that should cost $1 costs $2 at the checkout, that’s a real thing. And you all brought it to light.”

Yost dedicated $750,000 of the $1 million settlement to support food banks across the state, which are now being distributed by county auditors like Benroth, while additional funds were set aside for counties with Dollar General stores.

Dollar General agreed to keep display prices updated and to adjust prices at the register to reflect shelf tags anytime a customer identifies a pricing discrepancy as part of the settlement, which also calls for the retailer to conduct random price checks every 45 days and post signs about the settlement in all of its Ohio stores.

Stores that fail three auditor inspections in six months must check the price of each item in store as well.