County urged to decide employee premium pay

 

[April 14, 2022] 

At the Logan County Board’s Finance Committee meeting on April 12, one focus of discussion was one-time premium pay for non-union county employees.

Both the committee and the full board have been discussing premium pay since fall 2021. Finance Committee Chairman Steve Jenness said premium pay was something the board wanted to give, but there were way too many gray areas within the law.

When the board sent the premium pay requests to Bellwether, Jenness said they would not give a firm yes or no on it. For employees making around 130 percent above the poverty line, special consideration would need to be made for them to receive premium pay.

In December, the board put the premium issue aside temporarily after giving two percent raises to employees.

When premium pay was brought forward to the board in February, the motion was tabled because information about the totals was not yet clear.

In March, the board decided to let the issue go back to committee due to new ARPA guidelines that went into effect after initial discussions.

Previously, Jenness felt there were too many issues related to premium pay to figure out.

In December, when the board approved giving two percent raises, Jenness requested cancelling premium pay. To Jenness, raises seemed more beneficial than one-time premium pay. Jenness feels raises would encourage people to stay longer.

This month, Jenness feels something needs to go back to the full board. That way the board can ultimately decide yes or no.

At the April meeting, totals for the premium pay were listed in the packets.

If approved the full-time non-union employees would get $1,500. The part-time employees would get $750. With IMRF and FICA left out of the premium pay, the grand total for premium pay would be $194,871.52

Because the board decided to designate ARPA funding for other uses, Jenness said premium pay could come out of the contingency fund with $400,000 set aside in this fund when the FY 21/22 budget was passed.

When looking over the list of county employees, Board Chairman Emily Davenport removed anyone hired after a certain date. Those eligible for premium pay must have worked for the county between March 2020 and March 2021.

Because of some other planned purchases of equipment needed by various departments, Davenport said the contingency fund is down to $53,000. The board would need to figure out where the other $142,000 would come from.

Committee member David Hepler motioned to take the premium pay of $1,500 and $750 to the full board. He said that would be subject to the availability of funds. Hepler was not sure where the funds would come from. However, the audit report may show where the funds are available.

In a March resolution, the board approved designating ARPA funding for broadband and jail improvements. Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas said the money for broadband and jail improvements could be invested in CDs to gain interest.

With the money being invested, Thomas said it might work better to take the premium pay funds from APRA funds for now. The money will be sitting there until next year. It could be replaced later before it is spent. Thomas is not sure where they will find $142,000 to cover part of the premium pay.

Personally, Jenness said he does not want to just hope money will be there. He does not want to take away from the sheriff. That could cause potential liability.

Though Jenness said he does not have hard figures on broadband, he sees broadband as an investment in the county’s future. Jenness feels broadband could generate funds for the county.

Whatever the board chooses to do, Jenness will do.

Since there is money in a community benefits fund, Thomas asked whether $100,000 of that could be put towards broadband. She said broadband is a community benefit.

To Thomas, the premium pay issue has been discussed for too long. The employees have been wondering whether they will get anything at all. Thomas wants the board to just decide whether to give the pay or not.

The idea Jenness had was for raises to replace premium pay. Funds for raises were added to salaries. He did not intend for this issue to drag on for so long.

The auditor has told Jenness the county should always have at least $1.8 million in the budget. The county is a little above that now, but Jenness does not want throw that by the wayside.
Jenness wants to ensure the county does not want to find themselves needing to borrow money to make payroll and expenses.

Something Jenness said he understands is having to sacrifice and not get raises. He has gone at least four years without raises. Jenness said he does appreciate what the county employees do because the county would not function without them.

Committee member Keenan Leesman agrees raises should have replaced premium pay. Leesman asked whether everyone there got stimulus checks from the government.

Many people did, but Thomas said some did not. Thomas said she was not telling them whether yes or no on premium pay is right. She just feels the issue needs to be decided this month or cut it off. Thomas again said it would be hard to find an extra $142,000 in the budget.

Last month, the county decided to [potentially] designate ARPA funds for broadband and jail improvements. In doing that, Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers said the county may have painted themselves into a corner. He does not want to see contingency funds drained either.

If the resolution was amended, Landers said he would not be offended. The jail improvements will cost much more than the $1.5 M from the state and around $1.9 M from ARPA funds. Landers said he would understand if the money is utilized for other projects.

The matter will be taken back to the full board for discussion at Thursday’s Board Workshop. The board will likely vote on premium pay at the voting session on Tuesday, April 19.

[Angela Reiners]