The Leflore County supervisors who have been asked to repay more than $113,000 in Christmas bonuses they approved last year for county employees may get off the hook.
Or at least they should if Gov. Tate Reeves is allowed to go forward with his plan to give $1,000 Christmas bonuses to some 1,750 state troopers and other state law enforcement officers.
Few would quibble about the Republican governor’s desire to use about $2.4 million in federal coronavirus relief money to recognize the contributions of those who serve in what can be dangerous jobs, made possibly even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The question is whether it’s legal under Mississippi law.
State Auditor Shad White, who looked at an almost identical scenario in Leflore County, said it wasn’t. Citing an attorney general’s opinion, White said it is illegal in Mississippi to pay bonuses to public employees or to pay them additional compensation after the fact. Any extra compensation beyond a public employee’s normal salary, the auditor’s office said in its demand last month against the Leflore County officials, has to be spelled out in the employment contract before the service meriting the extra compensation is rendered.
That didn’t happen in Leflore County a year ago. And it’s not happening now with Reeves’ proposal.
So far White, who has not shied away from calling out public officials who have not followed state law strictly in how they spend public money, has been silent on the governor’s plan.
The Commonwealth reached out to the State Auditor’s Office for an explanation for what’s different about how Reeves plans to spend coronavirus relief money and how Leflore County officials did spend it. The governor’s own words and stated priority of wanting to get the “hazard pay” money to state law enforcement officers at Christmas time mirror the discussion that occurred last December before four of the five Leflore County supervisors approved across-the-board bonuses of $500 before the holiday.
The auditor’s office referred the newspaper to the attorney general’s office for an explanation. The attorney general’s office referred the newspaper back to the auditor’s office.
It leads one to wonder whether there is a double standard at play. Like Reeves, both Attorney General Lynn Fitch and State Auditor Shad White are Republicans. The four Leflore County supervisors called onto the carpet are not.
Those four should not pull out their checkbooks just yet. If what they did was illegal, how can the governor be allowed to break the same law? Unless that can be explained to satisfaction, the auditor should drop his demand.
- The Greenwood Commonwealth
