Logan County Board to vote county hiring freezes and premium pay for non-union employees

 

[November 22, 2021] 

On Thursday, November 18, the Logan County Board held its monthly workshop to hear committee updates and bring forward motions for the regular meeting. The focus of discussion was budget and finance related issues.

Board members present were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Bob Farmer, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Dale Nelson and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Sanders and Annette Welch were absent.

Finance Committee Chairman Steve Jenness said he would bring forward a motion Tuesday to freeze hiring for positions that did not exist before October 1, 2021, or any positions vacant since October 1, 2019. Any hiring would need to have board approval. The freeze does not apply to seasonal help.

A motion for the hiring freeze was originally brought forward last month. It was then sent back to the Finance Committee for more discussion and clarification.

At the Finance Committee meeting Tuesday, November 9, there were questions and discussion about how the hiring freeze would work.

When there are positions needing to be filled, Jenness said the board would review them to see if filling them is justifiable.

If a position is vacated for a year [or more], Blankenship said it seems like they could do without it. Having positions vacant since 2019 seems like a long time to him.

Sometimes there may an existing position that has already been budgeted for. In that case, Logan County Circuit Clerk Kelly Elias asked if she would still need board approval. She said it may even be a smaller salary if hiring someone for an existing position.

When Elias was a state employee, hiring freezes meant no new positions could be filled, but it did not affect existing positions.

Elias’ office is already down to bare bones as it is. She said now the committee is trying to tell her in the middle of a budget [year], departments must come to the board for approval if staff leaves. She is concerned about having to have approval from the board for those situations.

As far as state employees, Jenness knows of situations where they cut positions and/or consolidated positions.
 

The Circuit Clerk’s Office is already doing that, and Elias said she does not think the board understands that. She already has an unfilled position. Elias said she is just speaking for her office, not others.

Hiring someone is a long process and not usually done in a week. Jenness said going to the board for approval would extend it by a few weeks.

What Jenness wants to determine is if the position is really needed and whether the department could run without it. He is not trying to stop offices from hiring.

Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas asked whether the freeze would apply to her part time seasonal help hired during tax season. She wanted to know whether to do away with part time help or just get approval.

Since it is in the budget already, Jenness said they would not need to do away with the part time help.

For positions of a short duration and limited expense, Blankenship does not think approval would be needed.

Hepler motioned to exclude the part time seasonal help from the hiring freeze.

One area Jenness wants to look at in the upcoming year is how much Logan County pays county employees in comparison to other similar sized counties. He plans to do a comparative analysis.

For the sake of keeping costs down, Blankenship said we need to look at where the county stands. He feels there may be occasions two part timers could be hired instead of full timers.
 

As the board looks at these issues, Blankenship said they are performing their fiduciary responsibility. He does not feel they are telling departments how to run their offices.

Another portion of discussion was related to one-time premium pay for employees from the American Rescue Act Plan funds.

Jenness said he would motion Tuesday for allocation of ARPA funds for one-time premium pay.

The one-time premium pay would be $4,000 for each full-time non-union county employee. It would be $13 per hour up to and not to exceed $2,000 for each part time non-union county employee.

The one-time premium pay would be for employees who worked for the county between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021. Jenness said it would essentially be bonuses.

For employees hired after March 2021, Jenness will motion they still be eligible for one-time premium pay. That rate would $13 per hour [worked] up to and not to exceed $2000.

Nelson asked whether it would be in addition to raises or a substitute for raises.

Because of questions, Jenness said he may motion to take the issue of one-time premium pay back to committee for more discussion.

The board will also be voting to take the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget off display and then approve the amended budget. Additionally, annual tax levies will need to be approved.

The board will vote on these motions at their regular meeting Tuesday November 23 at 6 p.m.

[Angela Reiners]