LITHOPOLIS −The state auditor’s office and state attorney general’s office say Mayor Eric Sandine has not paid back about $50,000 to the village general fund from an issue from an issue dating back several years now.

Attorney general office public information officer Hannah Hundley said the case is now in collections and that Sandine has not responded to three letters from her office.

“The account was placed with special counsel in September 2023 and they’ve reached out to the debtor with no response,” Hundley said. “Additional collection efforts are being reviewed at this time by special counsel at the office.”

Sandine did not respond to numerous requests for comment from the Eagle-Gazette for this story.

The case goes back to the 2017-2018 fiscal year with the state saying Sandine revised village policies and procedures during his original stint as Lithopolis mayor between 2009 and 2014. The adjustments included removing limitations on vacation leave, sick leave, and compensatory time, and allowed for compensatory time payout upon separation.

The state said Sandine was paid in excess of the amount authorized by Ordinance 16-07 of the village code between 2014 and 2016, based on W-2 forms. In those three years, Sandine was paid $28,380 in excess compensation, with $16,830 coming in 2015.

In addition to the excess payments between 2014 and 2016, the auditor’s office reports Sandine also received two manual checks totaling $21,619 prior to the end of his employment with the village for payouts of sick leave, vacation and compensatory time. The checks were not issued through the payroll processing agent, according to the auditor’s office, and did not have taxes withheld.

In 2020 Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said “Mayor Sandine repeatedly accepted compensation which he was not legally entitled to receive.”

Faber also said the money belongs to the residents of Lithopolis and that it should be repaid.

But Sandine in 2020 said the state audit on the issue was politically motivated.

Village council member Tamasha Tennant said the council has no authority to force Sandine to repay the money because it deals with passing ordinances and resolutions only.

“Now I don’t know if there is anything that can be done in terms of the residents to lean on the attorney general’s office to ask if there’s any more that could happen on it,” she said.

jbarron@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: State says Lithopolis Mayor Eric Sandine still owes village $50,000