Glitch Results in Payday Errors

Friday was payday in the city of Canton, but Lisa Parker is already broke.

Not because she blew through the twice-a-month paycheck. Instead of making direct deposits into the accounts of the city's 120 employees, accidentally debited them.

"This is a mess and it's caused our account to overdraft," Parker wrote on the Canton-Sixes Patch Facebook page this evening. 

City Manager Scott Wood said the glitch was not "that big of deal" and that Canton has "almost spoiled employees into thinking that they’re entitled" to get a paycheck on Friday.

Per the city's personnel policy, employees are not supposed to get paid until Monday. To accommodate some of them, Wood said "we put that money ... in the bank, and it can go ahead and be transferred into an employee’s account" as early as Friday.

"Somebody," he said, "could’ve taken the position that, 'Look, we don't have to give you this money. You're not entitled to this money until Monday.' And if this becomes enough of a problem, we might go back to that."

Wood said Bank of North Georgia has been nothing but gracious and should not be crucified or embarrassed. Bank officials were apologetic and assured the city that it would reimburse employees who incurred any sort of overdraft charges.

"I just don't want to be unfair with the bank," he said. "It's an honest mistake. I mean they did everything they could do. That's why, to me, it ain’t no big deal. Now you got employees who I know will try to make a big deal out of it.

"Out of 120 employees—we can get our panties all in a wad about it—you got a few that just get all excited." 

Parker said the bank had not rectified anything as of 4 p.m. today.

"We were already in the hole $174.00 in service charges," she wrote on the Canton-Sixes Facebook page. "This completely wiped our account out!!"