Watching their spending

The recent transfer of more funds in order to meet payroll is proof that Fayette County is continuing to face financial challenges.
More proof came on Tuesday evening as the Fayette County Board acted on salaries for two county officers and benefits for all county employees.
The board, in a unanimous vote, agreed to freeze the salaries of the county coroner and circuit clerk for the next four years.
And while it approved the rates for employees’ dental and vision coverage, the board held off on deciding who will pay the premiums for those benefits.
Acknowledging that he didn’t know if it was “fair or legal,” board Chairman Steve Knebel said, “I’m going to recommend no increases in the elected (officials’) salaries.
The coroner and circuit clerk posts are being filled in November’s general election, and Tuesday was the deadline for setting the salaries for those officials for their four-year terms.
The coroner’s current salary is $24,761.19. The circuit clerk, like the county clerk and supervisor of assessments, is now paid $54,836.84.
The state’s attorney’s post is also being filled in November, but the salary for that elected official is set by state statute.
Knebel said that two years ago, when the board set salaries for the county clerk and recorder, treasurer and sheriff, “We offered 3-percent (increases) … and that was not well received.”
He said that looking at the county’s current financial situation, he did not believe it was prudent to approve increases, that holding the lines on salaries is part of the effort to trim county spending.
“We’ll just have to see two years from now what happens,” he said, referring to the point in time when the board will have to act on salaries for the county clerk and recorder, treasurer and sheriff.
Bruce Bowen, the current coroner, let Knebel know that he did not think that the salary freeze was fair.
Bowen said he believes that the fair thing to do would be to increase the salaries of those officials elected in November for two years, then take another look at the salaries.
But, Knebel said, “We have to set (them) for the full term.”
He said that it’s difficult to address salaries for all elected officials because they are voted into office in different election cycles, which means that their salaries are set at different times.
The same scenario is true for county employees who are members of three bargaining units. The union contracts currently do not run concurrently, but Knebel said that the board hopes to change that as it negotiates new contracts.
Knebel told board members, and Bowen, that the board could consider giving larger increases the next time that the coroner and circuit clerk are elected, but only if “things go good.”
But, he said, he’s not optimistic about that happening.
Board members Wade Wilhour said he agreed with Knebel’s recommendation.
Considering that the county recently transferred more money from its capital improvement fund to meet payroll, Wilhour said, “elected officials shouldn’t be getting raises.”
At the start of the meeting, County Treasurer Rose Hoover said $75,000 was taken from the capital improvement fund for payroll.
That transfer means that so far this year, $160,000 has been transferred from that fund, Knebel said. “We budgeted $355,000,” he said.
With the way the county has fought to operate on late tax and salary reimbursements from the state, “it won’t take long to get there (to the budgeted amount),” Knebel said.
At this point, the county has used close to $2 million of the $5.5 million in the capital improvement fund, which was established when the county sold its coal rights on about 160,000 acres of land.
The county’s finances were also discussed when the board considered rate proposals for dental and vision coverage for all county employees.
The cost of dental coverage will remain the same, $25.33 per month per employee, and vision coverage will increase from $10.82 to $11.25 per month per employee.
When Knebel asked Dean Bernhardt, chairman of the board’s insurance and personnel committee, for that group’s recommendation, Bernhardt said, “I can honestly say there is no agreement on it. It’s open for discussion.”
The board last month talked about turning over the payment of premiums to the employees, and that was again the focus on Tuesday.
The current dental and vision coverage expires at the end of this month, Knebel said. “So we need to make a decision.
“If we want to decide who’s going to pay for it later, that’s fine,” he said.
Knebel said that the board could discuss whether the county will continue to pay for the coverage, or whether it has the employees pay the premiums, as part of its upcoming negotiations with unions that represent employees.
Knebel made that comment after Bernhardt said that he had no recommendation on which way to go.
“There are certain circumstances that might come about that might influence this,” Bernhardt said.
He said at the August board meeting that current union contracts require the county to provide health insurance coverage, but that there is not specific wording on whether dental and vision coverage is included in that.
Were the county to decide to turn over the premium payments to the employees, they would have the choice of whether to participate in the county plan.
Board member Wade Wilhour spoke out against continuing to provide the dental and vision coverage.
Earlier in the meeting, he said, the board learned of the $75,000 fund transfer to meet payroll, and the county has other major issues on its plate.
He said that buckets are being used for leaks in the county jail roof, department heads have recently reported the need to make upgrades for Internet access and the courthouse has an outdated phone system.
“If they want it (dental and vision), they can go out and find it on their own,” Wilhour said.
“I think we just drop this and go from there … and see what happens,” he said.
“I’m tired of being bullied around,” Wilhour said.
Bernhardt added, “I am, too … and there are going to be some proposals made (in upcoming negotiations).”
Also at the meeting:
• Knebel, as chairman of the board’s finance committee, reported that the committee is “making up some kind of proposals” on a new budget.
“We’re definitely looking at a deficit, that’s for sure,” he said.
• The board approved the appointment of Julie Adermann of Farina, a registered nurse, to the Fayette County Board of Health for a three-year term that will expire on June 30, 2015.
Adermann succeeds Sandy Stombaugh, also a registered nurse, on the board of health.
• The board approved the re-appointment of Anthony Schlanser to the Tri-County Fire Protection District for three years. His term expires on in May 2015.
• Hoover reported that the county mailed out the first distribution of real estate tax monies, $11,293,143.32, last Tuesday.