The Habersham County Commissioners will be considering the County Manager’s New Contract at their 6 p.m. meeting Monday, January 23rd. This will be a one-year contract that requires a six-month notice if it is not to be renewed on February 2, 2024. The County Manager reports to the Board of Commissioners and is in charge of day to day operations of county departments. She has the authority to hire, fire, promote, and set the pay and work hours of employees. The Board of Commissioners establishes the policies and budgets under which the County Manager operates. They are her boss and are responsible for all actions taken by her, so the “Buck Stops Here” applies to the Board of County Commissioners.
Based on past actions of the Board it appears to me that three of the Commissioners, Bruce Palmer, Dustin Mealor and Ty Aikins, usually give the County Manager whatever she asks for. This results in the unelected County Manager running the county as she wishes, which may not be in the best interests of the citizens, taxpayers and county employees.
You may want to be at Monday’s meeting to see if any of the following suggested changes to the County Manager’s New Contract are adopted.
Pursuant to the terms of the Existing Contract (click here for the Existing Contract) the County Manager’s current total annual compensation is $225,942.57. This includes a Base Salary of $165,000 plus a $4,956.80 raise given in July 2022 contrary to the Existing Contract terms, plus a Housing allowance of $18,000, plus Personal use of County-Owned Vehicle $8,515 (based on IRS Mileage Rates on 13,000 miles per year roundtrip to her home in Catoosa county), plus a 15% bonus on the total of these three items, $29,470.77, that is deposited into her Deferred Compensation Contribution plan account for senior management.
As a comparison, in 2021 Governor Kemp’s salary was just $175,000. Salaries of the Agriculture Commissioner, Secretary of State and other elected state officials were even less. I called the Governor’s office and was told that the Governor and these other officials do not have a Senior Deferred Compensation Plan.
The County Manager gave herself an annual merit raise of $4,956.80 in July 2022 which, with the accompanying 15% bonus of $743.52 added to her Deferred Compensation account, amounted to an annual increase of $5,400.32. Her Existing Contract has no provision for her to receive any increase in pay prior to the execution of a New Contract. The Commissioners should void this raise and require the County Manager to reimburse the County $37,800 for this overpayment of compensation.
The Existing Contract in Section 4, Paragraph E, states that if the Commissioners at any time cut her pay without cutting the pay of all employees by the same percentage (how is that for looking out after the rank and file employees) she can elect to be “terminated without cause” and collect a substantial severance pay. Looks like she anticipated that the Commissioners might wake up and realize that they were paying her way over what other County Managers in surrounding counties, and counties throughout the state with under 50,000 populations, were paid and would reduce her pay to a similar level. The Commissioners should delete this paragraph in the New Contract.
Section 6 of the Existing Contract allows the County Manager to take Fridays off. How many of the rank and file county employees can take Fridays off, other than the HR Director and the Assistant Public Works Director she hired from Catoosa County? The Commissioners should remove this perk from the New Contract.
Section 9 of the Existing Contract requires the County to provide the County Manager a county-owned vehicle for personal use and the county pays for all gas, insurance, repairs and maintenance for the vehicle. A new vehicle is required every 4 years or 60,000 miles. As it is now, the County Manager can travel back and forth to her home in Catoosa County (about 250 miles roundtrip) plus use the county-owned vehicle for personal vacations, shopping, etc. at the taxpayers’ expense. The Commissioners should modify this paragraph in the New Contract by deleting “personal use” and deleting “60,000 miles”.
Section 12 of the Existing Contract allows the County Manager to participate in the Deferred Compensation Contribution plan for senior management at 15% of Base Salary, Housing Allowance and Vehicle Allowance without a mandatory Employee contribution. The Commissioners should delete this paragraph in the New Contract.
Section 15 of the Existing Contract states that the County Manager will receive a Housing Allowance of $1,500 per month ($18,000 per year). The 15% Deferred Compensation bonus in Section 12 increases this payment to $1,725 per month ($20,700 per year). The Commissioners should delete this paragraph in the New Contract.
Even if the Commissioners make these recommended changes in the New Contract, the County Manager will still be making $165,000 per year, which is $20,000 to $40,000 above the salaries being paid in surrounding counties other than Hall. I believe this is also $30,000 more than she was paid in her prior County Manager job with Catoosa County.
Let’s all hope the Commissioners’ actions at Monday’s meeting reflect the trust that we voters have placed in them.
Bob Guthrie
Cornelia
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The opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author. Now Habersham encourages readers to submit letters to share their opinions on issues of interest to our community. Click here for submission guidelines.
