Fairfield Twp. has promoted one of its fiscal officers to full-time status in an effort to manage increasing records requests and other duties, a township official said.

Kristy Traugh, who has been a part-time fiscal officer since 2005, was promoted to full time this week. She had been making $14.25 per hour as a part-time employee; her full-time position, which begins March 22, will pay her $15 an hour.

The other employees in the finance staff are Fiscal Officer Nancy Bock and assistant Sylvia Williams, both of whom work part-time. Williams is retiring at the end of this year, which is one reason why Traugh was promoted, according to Township Administrator Michael Rahall.

“This is in response to the additional workload in the fiscal office that’s come about over the past year,” Township Trustee Mark Sutton said.

Rahall said that workload included increasingly complex records requests, tracking and recording of Joint Economic Development Districts and Tax Increment Financing districts, and new auditing procedures from the state.

After Williams retires, the township will hire a part-time replacement. Until this change, there had been no full-time fiscal officers, Rahall said.

Traugh could not be reached for comment.

Last month, the township settled two lawsuits filed by resident Shannon Hartkemeyer, who had sued when she alleged township employees did not comply with her records requests. The township paid $70,000 to settle the lawsuits.

In a statement released as part of the settlement agreement, trustees said they recognized “their township had growing pains and is committed to compliance with laws allowing public review and accountability. The trustees intend to adopt a new record retention policy, to invest in new technology and to reassign personnel in furtherance of improving public service.”

The township is still working on a new retention policy, but Traugh’s promotion complies with reassigning personnel, Rahall said.