The town of Alna had to pay its workers compensation insurer $210 for submitting a wage report late, town officials said. Given the town's prior penalties from the Internal Revenue Service, Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve said if any other similar issues come up, he'll dust off his previous idea that the town hire a payroll service.

“This wasn't supposed to happen again,” Villeneuve said.

Town Treasurer Honora Perkins negotiated the recent penalty down from $310, Town Clerk Amy Warner said. The penalty from the insurer, the Maine Municipal Association, had been $10 a day for the 31 days the town was late on a quarterly report, Warner said.

Reached at the town office October 5, Perkins declined to comment on why the report was late.

The IRS penalties happened while Perkins' predecessor Dominic Caristo was treasurer. The town had at least $1,200 in interest and penalties for nonpayment of withholding taxes or misfiling of tax forms, according to town officials.

In the fall of 2011, selectmen discussed either using a payroll company or possibly asking residents to switch the treasurer from an elected to an appointed position. The board chose not to seek any changes at the time.

Susan Johns can be reached at 844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.