The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to provide county employees with hazard pay at their regular Monday meeting.
“Anything that we do, especially when it comes to compensating people who are not furloughed has to be meaningful and it has to be affordable,” BOS president Carl McGee affirmed at the board’s previous meeting.
With a motion made by District 4 Supervisor Mala Brooks and a second from District 3 Supervisor Tommy Benson, the BOS agreed to provide county employees with hazard pay at a rate of 7%, $172 per month, which would exclude furloughed employees.
“I believe 7 percent is sustainable for a month or so,” District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon said.
At that rate of hazard pay, the county will expend $58,211, according to county administrator Chelesa Carter.
Carter informed the board of a variety of percentages and the “would be” expenditure amount for the county for each percentage.
The BOS will revisit hazard pay again after 30 days for county employees.
With the county feeling the brunt of Coronavirus (COVID-19) financially, the BOS wanted to proceed thoughtfully and cautiously regarding hazard pay.
It was highlighted in the previous meeting due to the COVID-19 crisis, the county’s revenues have been greatly reduced.
“We still have quite a long ways to go in this fiscal year,” McGee pointed out.
On where the county has seen the most obvious or significant drop off in revenue, McGee shared it was a little too early to really pinpoint and say definitively where.
“But there has been some drop off with tags as well as property taxes,” he said. “Anytime you limit access to the place where those bills are paid, there’s going to be an impact.”
The BOS consulted with their auditor to determine what the appropriate numbers are to consider and the appropriate time to actually take a measurement of what the overall impact is going to be on the county financially.
