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| site_news:site_news [2025/11/20 23:10] – [11/20/2025 Addendum : Holiday Pay Schedule Proposals] editor | site_news:site_news [2025/11/21 00:34] (current) – [11/20/2025 Addendum : Holiday Pay Schedule Proposals] editor |
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| To get an understanding of where the proposed bonuses are going, a quick review of County employee salaries is worth a look. Open the Books → [[https://www.openthebooks.com/members/employer-detail/?Id=2040&tab=1&Year_S=2024|Highland County]]. These figures are one year out of date and do not include all part-time and less-than-part-time employees. 2025 salaries are likely to be somewhat higher.\\ | To get an understanding of where the proposed bonuses are going, a quick review of County employee salaries is worth a look. Open the Books → [[https://www.openthebooks.com/members/employer-detail/?Id=2040&tab=1&Year_S=2024|Highland County]]. These figures are one year out of date and do not include all part-time and less-than-part-time employees. 2025 salaries are likely to be somewhat higher.\\ |
| **The major takeaway**, from Open The Books is at the top. __**In less than 10 years time**__, the cost of __**Highland County salaries**__ has almost **DOUBLED**.\\ | **The major takeaway**, from Open The Books is at the top of their [[https://www.openthebooks.com/members/employer-detail/?Id=2040&tab=1&Year_S=2024| Highland County web page]]. __**In roughly 7 years time**__, the cost of __**Highland County salaries**__ has almost **DOUBLED**.\\ |
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| Note that, as of a FOIA request earlier this year, there are **77 employees** on the County side alone.\\ | Note that, as of a FOIA request earlier this year, there are **77 employees** on the County side alone.\\ |
| Ref Agenda Page -> [[https://www.hcspotlight.org/doku.php?id=board_of_supervisors:meeting_agendas:2025:11_19|11-19-2025]]\\ | Ref Agenda Page -> [[https://www.hcspotlight.org/doku.php?id=board_of_supervisors:meeting_agendas:2025:11_19|11-19-2025]]\\ |
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| - The BOS voted to pay the $687,617.50 (the exact amount quoted at the meeting) to the bureaucrats in Richmond. While I don't have any say in this, I believe this payout was a huge mistake. I would have voted to repay Richmond's contribution (a maximum of 20%) and nothing more. By any accounting, that sum would have made Richmond whole. That check would have been accompanied by a formal letter indicating what the sum was for (i.e., making Richmond’s contribution whole, which is what any legal system attempts to do). Specifically, the letter would have stated that the sum was not for rewarding Richmond with Highland County taxpayer funds for Richmond's interpretation of a perceived accounting error that, as best as I understand it, no one truly has a handle on—what happened or what the issue actually is. Again, I believe, for better or worse, this issue needs to go to court because the law that makes this nonsense possible could only have been dreamed up by education bureaucrats on a power trip. If this is allowed to stand—if Richmond is permitted to bully Highland County taxpayers into paying back more than their measly 20% contribution—more issues like this may be headed our way in the future.\\ | - The BOS voted to pay the $687,617.50 (the exact amount quoted at the meeting) to the bureaucrats in Richmond. While I don't have any say in this, I believe this payout was a huge mistake. I would have voted to repay Richmond's contribution (a maximum of 20%) and nothing more. By any accounting, that sum would have made Richmond whole. That check would have been accompanied by a formal letter indicating what the sum was for (i.e., making Richmond’s contribution whole, which is what any legal system attempts to do). Specifically, the letter would have stated that the sum was not for rewarding Richmond with Highland County taxpayer funds for Richmond's interpretation of a perceived accounting error that, as best as I understand it, no one truly has a handle on—what happened or what the issue actually is. Again, I believe, for better or worse, this issue needs to go to court because the law that makes this nonsense possible could only have been dreamed up by education bureaucrats on a power trip. If this is allowed to stand—if Richmond is permitted to bully Highland County taxpayers into paying back more than Richmond's measly 20% contribution—more issues like this may be headed our way in the future.\\ |
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| - While some of the $687,617.50 amount will be paid for by the cash merged into the General Fund from the school’s capital fund, I would ensure that next year the school system makes up the difference fully in a dollar-for-dollar budget cut. Highland County taxpayers cannot be expected to make up differences for accounting errors, regardless of the reason, or anomalies like this will become the norm rather than the exception.\ | - While some of the $687,617.50 amount will be paid for by the cash merged into the General Fund from the school’s capital fund, I would ensure that next year the school system makes up the difference fully in a dollar-for-dollar budget cut. Highland County taxpayers cannot be expected to make up differences for accounting errors, regardless of the reason, or anomalies like this will become the norm rather than the exception.\ |