Following are summaries of the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s reports on two Columbia Borough pension plans. A link to the original document is provided at the end of each summary.
Summary: Compliance Audit Report for the Columbia Borough Police Pension Plan
This is a compliance audit report for the Columbia Borough Police Pension Plan in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, conducted by the Pennsylvania Auditor General in January 2026.
Key Points:
The audit examined whether the pension plan was administered in compliance with state laws and regulations for the period January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024. The audit found that the plan was mostly compliant, but identified two significant findings:
Finding No. 1: The borough failed to correct a prior issue where an ordinance was improperly amended by resolution rather than by a new ordinance.
Finding No. 2: The borough is paying excess pension benefits to a retiree that aren’t authorized by the plan’s governing document. Specifically, the retiree is receiving $274 per month more than authorized (totaling approximately $17,449 in excess payments). This occurred because certain pay items were improperly included when calculating the retiree’s average compensation for their Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) benefit.
Auditor’s Concern: Both findings repeat issues from a prior audit that have not been corrected. The auditor expressed concern about the borough’s failure to implement previous recommendations and strongly encouraged timely corrective action.
Recommendations: The borough should adjust the retiree’s pension benefit prospectively to match what’s authorized, and may need to reimburse the Commonwealth for any excess state aid received due to these overpayments.
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Summary: Compliance Audit Report for Columbia Borough’s Non-Uniformed Pension Plan
This is a compliance audit report for Columbia Borough’s Non-Uniformed Pension Plan in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, conducted by the Pennsylvania Auditor General in January 2026.
Main Purpose: The audit examined whether the pension plan was administered in compliance with state laws and whether prior recommendations were addressed.
Key Findings:
The audit identified two compliance issues:
Restated Plan Document Not Adopted by Ordinance (repeat finding) – The pension plan’s terms were updated in a separate agreement with the plan custodian in 2013, but the governing ordinance was never formally amended to reflect these changes. This creates potential inconsistencies in benefit provisions.
Failure to Properly Fund Members’ Accounts – The borough incorrectly funded employee pension accounts from 2020-2024:
Underfunded in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023
Overfunded in 2024
The borough must now pay interest on delinquent contributions.
Management Response: Borough officials acknowledged both findings. For the funding issue, they cited staff turnover and have implemented corrective measures including hiring a third-party administrator and clarifying the definition of compensation in the plan document.
Overall Conclusion: Aside from these two findings, the plan was administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The auditor expressed concern that the ordinance issue remains unresolved from the prior audit.
Columbia Spy 