Tensions rise, but wages won’t

MT. PLEASANT — At last week’s department head meeting, tensions rose as the Henry County Board of Supervisors officially voted to not give raises to any county employees this next fiscal year and broached the topic of fraudulent time cards.

In light of needed budget cuts due to House File 718 which requires Henry County to drop their property tax levies from $4.83 per $1,000 taxable valuation to $3.50 per $1,000 taxable valuation by 2029, Supervisor Greg Moeller informed county department heads of their intention to not provide raises to employees in the upcoming fiscal year.

According to County Auditor Shelly Barber, the county needs to cut $507,500 from the budget to drop the levy to $4.16 per $1,000 taxable valuation, which is the supervisors’ current goal for FY24-25.

“To make it official, the Compensation Board, which suggests raises for the elected officials, suggest a 4% raise across the board for all officials,” Moeller said at the Jan. 4 meeting. “In these difficult times, we cannot give raises. I mean, that’s my opinion.”

With that, Moeller asked for a motion from the board that “no raises be given across the board to elected and non-elected officials.”

After some discussion between the supervisors and department heads, Supervisor Chad White made the motion to abstain from raises.

“We have done this before,” Supervisor Marc Lindeen said. “The supervisors have been here years we have not gotten raises. So, it is not a new thing at all.”

Lindeen seconded the motion which then passed unanimously.

“I slept three hours last night trying to think of what to say today,” Moeller said. “It’s not easy for us. We’re sitting on the other side working. We’re mandated to lower the levy to $3.50. County government in Henry County is going to have to be downsized, which means it’s going to be the loss of employees. When you downsize, whether it’s in the private sector or the public sector, you’re going to lose employees. In talking about morale, it’s not going to be good for probably the next three or four years, quite honestly.”

Some department heads pushed back on the suggestion of denying raises.

“You just made a motion and seconded on no pay raise, but we haven’t even heard all the budgets yet,” Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee said. “I’m cutting three. You know, if everybody cuts a person, what is the bottom line going to look like? We’ve already made a motion for no raise when you gentlemen don’t even know what all our budget proposals are.”

Moeller then explained that he felt the information that raises aren’t coming is needed so that departments can make their budgets armed with that information.

As McNamee spoke against the motion, he asked about the possibility of a surplus of money if each department makes personnel cuts.

“How can we give raises when we have to cut people?” Public Health Director Shelley Van Dorin asked McNamee. “How can we justify giving elected officials 4% when I have to get rid of two people?”

Barber and the supervisors assured the department heads that they did not foresee any surplus in the budget despite personnel cuts.

“If you’re not going to give a pay raise, can you at least maybe do a couple extra holiday pays to give them another day off or something?” Henry County Recorder Lynnae Buffington asked. “I feel like we have to do something to keep our staff.”

“I respect what you’re saying entirely, Lynnae,” Lindeen responded. “You do a wonderful job up there, but if you give them the day off, it’s hard to take it back later on when things get better, because I’ve seen that happen. We’ve given things in the past I wish now that we’d not given. That’s part of our budget issue right now, too. So, I’d have to say no on that, right now.”

While Moeller stated he understands where department heads like Buffington and McNamee are coming from, he held his ground and delved into concerns he said he’s heard from the public for years.

“We have people that are given days off, nobody’s in the office, but timesheet shows that they were there,” Moeller informed the room. “It has been brought to our attention that this is happening across the county. So, are those individuals defrauding the county, the county taxpayer’s money? In the private industry, you’d probably get a pink slip. You wouldn’t get a second chance.”

County Treasurer Kellie Sloan later echoed Moeller’s sentiments calling the act fraud.

“We’re spoiled,” Sloan said. “We’re so so spoiled and when you throw in that, it’s like a kick in the teeth.”

While Moeller did encourage individuals that may not know how to fill out timesheets to stop by the auditor’s office for a lesson, he did not back down.

“Let’s not defraud the public by putting that you’re at work and you’re not at work,” Moeller said. “ … People bring it up to me, and it continues to happen day after day. If you don’t like to work here, we are an at-will employer. Leave, please.”

“If timesheets aren’t accurately being submitted, in my mind, I think that is a crime,” White said. “I really do.”

White then received confirmation from Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee, who was present at the meeting as a department head, that this action is actually a crime.

“What are we doing about it is my question, if you three guys know this is happening?” McNamee chimed into the conversation.

Armed with the understanding that submitting intentionally inaccurate timesheets is a crime, White stated that he is “game for starting to do the investigations on that, because we just can’t have that.”

While specifics were not discussed in the meeting, McNamee did state that the sheriff’s office does this type of investigations.

While Moeller didn’t single out any particular department, a few department heads felt compelled to specifically state that the practice was not happening under their leadership.

“I know the Sheriff’s Office is not inaccurate,” McNamee said. “ … You know if it was in my office, there’d already be that pink slip.”

County Engineer Jake Hotchkis also spoke up, “I need to make it clear that it is not my department.”

Conservation Department Director Caleb Waters also stated that the time sheets for his department were accurate and not part of this issue.

“Ultimately this revolves back to this budget crisis,” McNamee said. “That is money spent that shouldn’t be. … In the long run, it’s all about the bottom line.”

“It’s taxpayer money, let’s not forget that people,” Moeller implored.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com