C. David Turner, 52, of Grove City, faces charges of theft by unlawful taking and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received. He was arraigned Tuesday before Tarentum District Justice Carolyn Bengel and was released on his own recognizance.

Turner, who was the borough manager from October 1998 to November 2000, was initially paid as an employee of the borough. But on March 15, 1999, the borough council agreed to switch Turner’s status from employee to independent contractor and raised his salary to $65,000 a year, according to court records.

In the fall of 1999, Turner also began billing the borough $36 an hour for his services, according to a criminal complaint. The change amounted to a $38,391 pay increase over a 19-month period, prosecutors said.

Turner allegedly admitted during an interview with Detective William Miller of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office that the borough did not agree to the pay change in writing.

Instead, Turner told Miller that the council approved the pay arrangement during a closed-door meeting.

S. Michael Streib, Turner’s attorney, said he does not comment on unresolved cases.

The Tarentum borough council voted in November to fire Turner because he kept sloppy financial books, missed work and was disrespectful to council members and borough employees.

At the time, Turner said the allegations were untrue and politically motivated.