Thursday's Internet Edition, September 02, 2010.

At the same time, commissioners are taking steps to make sure a similar debt does not accumulate in the future.

The money is for holiday pay that was not paid in the past to keep the sheriff’s budget from going into the red.

Commissioners Rodney Cox, David Boothe and John Greathouse agreed the same mistake should not be made in the future.

Sheriff Mike Harper said he would use money in two funds under his control - fees collected for concealed weapons permits and from those on home confinement - to help pay part of the debt. He has not decided how much his office can contribute from those funds.

At the end of the fiscal year commissioners said the concealed weapon fund had over $11,000 while the home confinement fund had more than $33,000.

Commissioners said in the future deputies would receive their holiday pay with their regular pay.

Chief Deputy Todd Cole said the average a deputy receives for holiday time was around $22 an hour.

“It’s a difficult pill to swallow financially, but we won’t have this hanging over our head in the future,” commission president Rodney Cox said.

Prosecutor Josh Downey said commissioners needed to decide if deputies would be paid 8 or 10 hours for holidays. Deputies usually work four 10-hour shifts a week.

Greathouse made a motion, seconded by Cox, to pay deputies 10 hours for holidays, since that was their normal schedule.

Booth attempted to amend the motion to make it eight hours. Cox said only the person who made the motion could amend it, which led to a recess to allow Downey to research Robert’s Rules of Order.

When the meeting resumed Downey said Boothe could make a motion to amend the motion.

When that happened, Boothe’s amendment died for lack of a second. All three commissioners then voted in favor of the 10 hours pay.

Downey said the sheriff had the option of granting compensatory time off in lieu of holiday pay. Commissioners said in those cases, a deputy could not change his mind later and ask for pay for that day.

Sgt. Kevin Unger said because of the staffing levels, he already had vacation time he could not use.

Others said it was hard to take a day off for a holiday.

“I’d rather be off on Christmas myself,” Deputy Mike King said, “but you can’t do it.”

In part because of the holiday pay problem, commissioners were reluctant to spend any of the carryover from the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Administrative assistant Jennifer Randolph said there was just over $98,000 in carryover from the general county and coal severance budgets combined.

Commissioners agreed to spend only about $13,000 of that on two projects they had previously committed to, including about $6,500 to finish windows in the Camp Sheppard assembly hall and $2,500 to finish a drain project at the camp. Commissioners also agreed to pay a $2,700 maintenance fee for computers in the sheriff’s tax office and a $1,500 match for computers in the circuit clerk’s office.

The remaining $85,000 was put in the commission’s capital outlay account. That will be reduced by whatever portion of the holiday pay the sheriff cannot pay from the other funds in his office.

Requests not funded with the carryover included a new vehicle for the assessor’s office, a used pickup truck and other requests at Camp Sheppard and funds for a basketball court in Reedy sought by the parks and recreation commission.

Commissioners also:

ν Approved a list of poll workers for the special election in August that was identical to the list for the May primary. County Clerk Charlie White said alternates would replace poll workers who could not work the August election.

ν Decided to use the courthouse as a polling place since the Heritage Park Community Building was rented on the special election day.

ν Agreed to participate in the PEIA wellness program that will offer programs for employees.

ν Learned from Downey the Wood County Day Report Center had found a location in Spencer to use for clients from Roane County. Downey said the building at 325 Main St. would undergo some remodeling before the center opens.

ν At Boothe’s suggestion, agreed to ask a representative of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Planning and Development Council to attend the next meeting at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 10, to discuss a water extension to serve the Peniel area. Boothe said commissioners received a petition from residents requesting the extension over a year ago.