MUDDY CREEK TWP — Accountability practices have changed in the wake of allegations that the former township secretary wrote unauthorized checks to herself.

Rick Saunders, Muddy Creek Township supervisor, answered some questions related to the case Monday night at a township supervisors meeting.

While he said he couldn't talk about much of the case because of the ongoing criminal investigation, he did acknowledge the township has made some changes since October.

It was in October that Saunders and another Muddy Creek Township supervisor went to confront Dixie Lynn Christy about more than $100,000 in payroll checks. An auditor alerted the supervisors to the problem.

"When we walked in the building, before we could say a word, she said she was resigning due to health reasons and walked out of the building," Saunders said.

The supervisors then turned over their information to the state police.

Police earlier this month charged Christy, 38, of Cherry Township with 209 felony counts, including forgery, access device fraud and theft. She is free on $15,000 bail and awaiting a preliminary hearing.

The first thing the township did was to hire a private company — ADP — to handle payroll. As a bonus, it saves the township money, Saunders said.

The township also changed its accounting software, which can't be manipulated as it was in the past.

Finally, now all three township supervisors must sign checks. Prior practice required only two signatures.

Other details, such as past audit reports and who signed off on the payroll checks, Saunders wouldn't discuss.

"There's a lot we can't say because it's still under investigation," Saunders said.

These changes should protect the township from future thefts, Saunders said, while acknowledging there were some soft spots in the old policies and practices.

"There were mistakes made," he said.

Christy, who began working for the township in 2002, was in charge of township payroll and commonly wrote checks.

Christy's W-2 payroll records showed her pay at $26,000 in 2004, which increased to $36,380 in 2005, the first year in which she allegedly began benefiting from the unauthorized checks.

In 2006, her gross wages jumped to $71,713, and in 2007, her pay reached $93,800. In 2008, the last year of the alleged scheme, her wages totaled $43,723.

Christy's hourly pay was $12.50 in 2004, $13 in 2005, $14 in 2006 and 2007, and $14.42 in 2008. She claimed the money she reported earning above her hourly pay was for extra work in the office.

In total, police say Christy took $108,848.70 in unauthorized pay.

"The way it happened won't happen again," Saunders said.