Bonuses OK’d for some county staffers

JPs approve $500 for essential, full-time workers, $1,000 for first responders

Pulaski County justices of the peace passed an ordinance Tuesday giving bonuses to all essential, full-time county employees in recognition of their work during the covid-19 pandemic.

The ordinance will give $500 to all essential, full-time county employees and $1,000 to first responders in the first pay period in September.

After a short discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, the ordinance passed 12-1, with two abstentions.

County Judge Barry Hyde said that although it was not the No. 1 goal he had for the Quorum Court this year, he is happy to reward county employees who have worked hard through the pandemic.

“I am pleased because we have many of our employees who have been on the front lines, many of whom are our first responders,” Hyde said. “Many of our folks who had to continue working with the public, and many who did not have to work with the public, with remote work, but it was what I believed was appropriate.”

The ordinance began its journey to approval in May when it was introduced as a late filing in that month’s meeting. Justices of the peace did not approve suspending the rules and hearing a reading of the proposed ordinance during that meeting.

When asked at the time why the rules were not suspended, Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers said he was concerned that the legislation may have been rushed.

Hyde referred Tuesday to the May late filing, joking about the number of late filings added to the items for consideration at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I want to let you know that we have a late filing that will include six additional ordinances tonight,” Hyde said, earning chuckles from many JPs.

After the failure to hear the proposed ordinance in May, which Hyde said he was shocked by, the proposal was placed on the budget for the regular meeting in June, without an emergency clause.

The procedure to pass the ordinance subsequently took three months.

“Several of the Quorum Court members and I thought that it was timely to do three months ago,” Hyde said. “As you can see now from what some other counties are doing, it was a reasonable amount to deal with, and we just had folks that just didn’t support it.”

Other counties in Arkansas also have approved bonuses for their employees.

Full-time county employees in Conway and Faulkner counties received more $5,000 in bonuses, funded from the American Rescue Plan.

Hyde said the bonuses for county employees may not be the last they receive, and that Pulaski County has yet to even make a dent in using the funding it received under the American Rescue Plan.

“I think the quorum courts and county judges studied situations and made decisions

on what they thought was going to be within the guidelines and gave them lots of flexibility going forward,” Hyde said. “It’s very early in the ARP money. This money doesn’t have to be allocated or appropriated until the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.”

Hyde said many counties have not spent much of their American Rescue Plan funds and he is working to find the best fit for how to use the funding in Pulaski County.

“Some folks may have thought that ‘we need to hurry up and burn this money,’” Hyde said.

“There are many counties that have yet to do anything, and many cities have yet to do anything. The elected leaders of these local bodies, I think, are making their best decisions.”

Justice of the Peace Kristina Gulley said she wished all employees of the county across the board had received some compensation, considering the difficulty of the past year.

“I personally would support them receiving more because I wanted all the county employees to receive $1,000, whether they were considered essential or not,” Gulley said. “I feel like everybody has been affected by covid. Give them all a one-time $1,000.”

Given that other counties in the state have paid more to their employees, Pulaski County should have done the same, Gulley said.

“Knowing that Conway and Faulkner gave all their employees $5,000, and they received less money than we did, I feel like we didn’t do right by the employees,” Gulley said. “We should have given more.”

Looking down the road, Hyde said he has been working with other county officials on a regional economic development project to help people in the counties and cities in Central Arkansas with many different projects.

Although right now there are no plans for additional bonuses, Hyde said Pulaski County “may do an additional premium pay down the road.”