Unemployment Insurance Taxes Uncollected See the audit report for Full Details |
Edward B. Hatchett, Jr. |
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(Frankfort - April 1, 2003)
The Division of Unemployment Insurance has allowed $62 million in unemployment insurance taxes owed to the Commonwealth to remain delinquent and uncollected, according to a performance audit released today by State Auditor Ed Hatchett. The majority of the taxes are overdue by more than a year.
The Division of Unemployment Insurance, which administers the Unemployment Insurance Fund, has also failed to collect more than $6 million in penalties and interest, which can be used by the Commonwealth. State law requires employers to contribute to a fund that provides pay for workers who lose their jobs. According to the audit, however, 33,075 employers are behind in their payments to the fund. “This is one more example of a state agency failing to collect money owed the Commonwealth,” said Hatchett. He went on to say, “Given the Commonwealth’s fiscal crisis, it is incumbent upon every agency to do it’s best, anything less is not acceptable.” The Division of Unemployment Insurance relies on auditors and account specialists to collect the accounts rather than full time collectors. Not only do collection efforts suffer as a result, but auditing suffers as well. According to a national study, Kentucky ranked 44th in collections of unpaid contributions and last when it comes to conducting field audits of contributory employers. |
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