During the November 19th Board of Supervisors meeting, slips of paper were passed to the Board to examine — but notably not shared with the public. These slips detailed a set of proposals for “Christmas Pay.” More accurately, they should be called what they are: across-the-board bonuses.

I requested the information presented to the Board, and it was provided on the 20th.

The highest of the four tiers was as follows:
Full-time: $1,000
Part-time: $750
Less-than-part-time: $500
Total: $37,779

The three lower-tier proposals were $23,655, $17,753, and $15,391, with adjusted amounts for each employee category.

To put this in proper perspective, consider the salary range for County employees at OpenTheBooks.com. The exact link for Highland County is listed at hcspotlight.org, under “Site News,” dated 11/20/2025 .

For 2024, the salaries of County administrative employees range from a high of $117,036.84 down to $1,699.50 for a part-time position. Note that the OpenTheBooks list does not reflect all 77 employees employed by the administrative offices of the County. (Seventy-seven was the exact number provided in a FOIA response dated April 21 of this year.)

Now let’s consider the median household income in Highland County which may consist of two or more incomes. According to virginia-demographics.com virginia-demographics.com, median household income is $62,946.

With these individual salaries in mind, versus the County’s median household income, does it make sense to give bonuses to employees who already earn more than $62,000 — especially when medical, retirement, benefits, holidays, etc., provided by the County are far more generous than what private employers in the County offer? The County is casting a wide taxing net that includes household earnings well below the median in order to pay bonuses to employees who earn well above that amount.

Further, with a tip of the hat to Paul Trible, who does not take a salary, Board of Supervisors members are paid County employees and may fall into the “less than part-time” category. (Harry Sponaugle’s salary is listed on OpenTheBooks.com.) In essence, the two paid Board members may be eligible for the very bonuses they are voting on.

As I have previously stated, besides being an example of taxpayer abuse, across-the-board bonuses are bad personnel policy. Bonuses should be awarded to those who truly go above and beyond — not as an automatic annual Christmas entitlement.

In summary: with better attendance at meetings than most Board members, I have watched BOS meetings closely since the EMS debacle, where two of the three members of the Board effectively shut the volunteer service down, despite obvious danger to the public. That action, and the events leading up to it, were such an egregious and grossly misguided overreach that I began attending meetings regularly. At first, it was out of morbid curiosity: “Could a Board possibly be more dysfunctional and, frankly, more dangerous to the community it is supposed to serve than what I had witnessed?”

The answer? From what I’ve seen firsthand, it would be difficult to say otherwise. Lying, petty “he said, she said” arguments, and similar drama seemed to be the rule of the day. The EMS scenario was dangerous, toxic, and a major contributor to the soaring expenses now borne by taxpayers. I know of no equivalent in my lifetime — and I have more than a little gray hair. Even after the EMS situation was “resolved,” the continuing childish behavior of two Board members, which I've witnessed firsthand, has been discouraging to say the least.

As citizens, we need to learn hard lessons from this. With that in mind, additional Taxation Without Representation letters may follow. We must do better — and soon — or Highland County risks suffering irreparable harm as a result.