Miami-Dade mistakenly paid a county commissioner an extra $1,000 a week. Nobody noticed

For eight months, nobody noticed the unusually large paychecks going to Miami-Dade Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, who now must pay back $34,000 received due to a payroll error.

Gonzalez, a lawyer representing the West Kendall area, didn’t realize Miami-Dade’s payroll department had been overpaying him by about $1,000 a week almost from the start of his tenure on the 13-seat board in November, according to a person who spoke to him.

The extra $2,008 added to his twice-a-month checks came to light this week after the Miami Herald asked about online payroll records showing Gonzalez earning $5,500 every two weeks while his fellow part-time commissioners received less than $3,500. Commissioners earn about $72,000 a year for the part-time posts.

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Gonzalez, 36, did not respond to a request for comment. He reported earning nearly $200,000 last year from his law firm before accepting the commission seat in late November, and Human Resources said there were errors on each paycheck he received from Miami-Dade.

“The commissioner couldn’t have noticed because he wouldn’t have known what his paycheck should be,” said Barbara Galvez, deputy director of the commission’s Office of Policy and Budgetary Affairs. “His paycheck wasn’t right from Day One.”

Galvez doesn’t work for Human Resources, but said she spoke with staff there after Gonzalez’s office requested assistance in answering the Herald’s inquiry.

According to Galvez and a statement released by Human Resources, the issue with Gonzalez’s paychecks began shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to the District 11 seat left vacant following the suspension of Joe Martinez over his arrest on corruption charges.

DeSantis appointed Gonzalez, a former Republican candidate for the Florida House, on Nov. 23.

The Dec. 16 paycheck covering his first full two weeks in office included a one-time payment of $2,008 related to an expense allowance received by all commissioners, according to the statement from Melanie McLean, deputy director of Human Resources, which oversees payroll for the county’s 30,050 positions.

But a payroll employee failed to enter an end date for the one-time payment as required, apparently allowing it to recur indefinitely.

“It was erroneously paid every pay period,” McLean said.

Galvez said Human Resources told her that Gonzalez has the option of having the overpayment deducted from future paychecks or reimbursing the county upfront. McLean confirmed repayment is required and that “options are being discussed” with Gonzalez.

In financial disclosure forms filed this summer, Gonzalez is the wealthiest of the 13 commissioners based on self-reported assets and liabilities. Because he valued his 50% share of the PereGonza The Attorneys law firm at $5 million, he listed a net worth of $4.86 million.

For income last year, the married father of two reported earning $188,000 from the firm. Though he hasn’t filed candidacy papers yet, Gonzalez is expected to run for a full four-year term in the 2024 election.

While the County Commission has some staff, payroll is handled by Human Resources, an agency that reports to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

McLean said audit procedures did not catch the error. Commissioners are part of a $4 billion county payroll that covers roughly 30,000 positions, making county government the second-largest workforce in Miami-Dade, behind the school system.

“We are addressing the error and reviewing audit procedures with staff to ensure that they are strictly adhered to,” McLean wrote in the statement. “Concurrently, we will also be developing additional exception reports that would identify similar errors or discrepancies.”