June 28, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
For now, full and part time county employees will not be getting premium pay (bonuses) for their service during the height of the pandemic from American Rescue Plan Act funds and they have two county commissioners to thank for it.
Commissioners Bruce Malone from the 7th district and Jerry Adcock of the 5th district were the two no votes that blocked passage of the proposal during Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting.
Although the commission vote was 6-2 in favor of giving the bonuses, at least seven votes were needed for passage in this case. Those voting in favor were Commissioners Myron Rhody (2nd district); Susannah Cripps Daughtry (3rd district); Janice Fish Stewart (4th district), Anita Puckett (5th district), Jeff Barnes (6th district); and Beth Pafford (7th district). Sixth district commissioner Matt Adcock could not cast a vote because of a conflict of interest due to his being a county employee of the ambulance service. All other commissioners were absent including Shaee Flatt and Julie Young (1st district); Sabrina Farler (2nd district); Jenny Trapp (3rd district); and Dr. Scott Little (4th district).
Commissioner Jerry Adcock protested the move saying if ARP money was to be distributed among people, then it should be for citizens across the county to help them pay their property taxes instead of it going to just a select few county employees.
“Each taxpayer should be given one share and it (the ARP) money should be divided up to pay their property tax. For example, let’s say there was $4 million dollars (ARP money) and 10,000 people that would come out to about $400 a piece. We would take that money and apply it to their property tax. If their property tax was $300 (they would not get the extra $100). I think this is a fair way (to distribute the money) because this was set up for the people. It wasn’t just set up for a chosen few that we choose to hand this out to. Let’s as a county take care of our people in the county. All of them and not just a select few,” said Commissioner Jerry Adcock.
Under the proposal voted on Monday night, a total of $372,862 of ARP funds would have been distributed to county employees and volunteers at no cost to the county. Employees of the county general department would have received a bonus including 75 full timers at the full amount of $2,500 each for their service through the 15-1/2 month pandemic period of March 13, 2020 to June 30, 2021 . Eight full timers would have gotten a prorated share at $166.67 per month for the time they worked for the county during a portion of those 15-1/2 months. To qualify for the money, all bonus recipients must have still been employed by the county and no one who worked for more than one county department would have been allowed to double dip. The bonus pay would have also gone to 56 part time county general employees at $1,250 each along with nine health department employees. Twelve employees of the county highway department would have received the full bonus of $2,500 each while five would have gotten a prorated share. Twenty-nine county volunteer fire fighters would have received either $350 or $300 each based on training attendance during the 15-1/2 month pandemic period and 15 members of the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad would have received a share of the bonus for meeting certain criteria.
The budget committee earlier this month voted to recommend to the county commission that full time county general employees each get a bonus of $2,500 and that part time staff each receive $1,250. The county general operation includes courthouse, sheriff’s department, county complex, solid waste department employees, offices of most elected and appointed county officials, libraries, senior center directors, etc. Originally, the budget committee specified that in order to get the full $2,500 bonus, county general employees must have worked for the county at any time during the 15-1/2 month period of March 13, 2020 to June 30, 2021 and they must still be employed by the county. However they revised the proposal last Wednesday, June 22 in one respect and that was to prorate the pay for full time employees who only worked a portion of the 15-1/2 month period or for those who went from working part time to full time or vice versa.
The proposal specified that part time EMS staff must have worked a minimum of 400 hours to get the part time bonus pay of $1,250. All other part timers must have put in at least 250 hours during the fifteen-and-a-half-month period. Twenty-nine volunteer firefighters who met the criteria would get a bonus. Firefighters who made 75% training attendance would qualify for a $300 bonus and those with 100% training attendance would receive a $350 bonus for the period from March 13, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Two county funded employees and eight employed by the state at the DeKalb County Health Department would were also included in the ARP bonus plan.
During a committee meeting of the whole Thursday night, members of the county commission requested that employees of the DeKalb County Highway Department and volunteers of the non-profit Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad who meet the requirements also be included in the ARP bonus plan proposal, subject to approval by the full commission.
Although the county commission rejected the proposal Monday night it is likely to be resurrected for re-consideration possibly next month.