To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: N/A
Prepared By:
prepared
Todd Weaver, Finance Director
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presenter
Presenter: Todd Weaver, Finance Director
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Subject:
title
11:00 AM *Amending the Resolution Pertaining to Employee Payroll Deductions
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
The purpose of this drop-in session is to seek Board of County Commissioner approval for a resolution limiting the payroll deductions to only those required for tax withholdings, mandated garnishments, county-wide benefits, and those bargaining unit dues as required by law and collective bargaining agreements.
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Background and Discussion: The Finance Department has received requests to add employee payroll deductions for outside entities as well as non-profit organizations which we have declined due to a resolution passed in 2007 limiting such deductions without Board of County Commissioner approval. As a result of these recent requests and the recent addition of collective bargaining units, the Finance Department has evaluated and discussed the amount of work that goes into processing such deductions on a bi-weekly basis. Each of these employee payroll deductions requires our two payroll staff members to spend about 1-2 hours per pay period per deduction to ensure they are processed correctly, that any changes to employee authorizations are made, produce reports showing which employees contributed and the total amount deducted, and ensure the funds are transferred to the organization receiving the deduction. This is in addition to the existing required payroll workload. With the advent of collective bargaining units, it is foreseeable that the county will need to add at least two more bargaining unit dues to the payroll deductions, in addition to the two already existing payroll deductions for the Fraternal Order of Police and the Sheriff’s Office Employee Trust Fund. Allowing employee payroll deductions beyond the existing and anticipated deductions would increase the workload on Finance and, depending on the number of future payroll deductions, it further crowds the employee pay stub leading, at some point, to a lack of space to detail all of the deductions that required/selected.
Therefore, the Finance Department would like to recommend to the Board of County Commissioners replace the 2007 resolution with one that states the county will only permit those employee payroll deductions that are for the following purposes; (1) required tax withholdings, (2) wage garnishments mandated by court order or governmental agency, (3) applicable county-wide benefits offered to all employees, and (4) those bargaining unit dues as required by law or applicable collective bargaining agreements. We would further recommend that the existing Sheriff’s Office Employee Trust Fund remain as an employee deduction due to the longstanding practice and large number of employees currently participating in that voluntary deduction. The Sheriff’s Office Employee Trust Fund has been in place since 1996, and its purpose is provide assistance to employees who were either hospitalized or who have experienced a death in the family.
Fiscal Impact: There is no direct financial impact from approving this revision to the resolution regarding payroll deductions.
Alternatives: The Board of County Commissioners could choose not to adopt this resolution and continue under the current resolution to approve further employee payroll deductions as they are brought before the BOCC for consideration. Approving such additional deductions would increase the workload of the Payroll staff in the Finance Department and it is likely that additional staff will be needed to make sure all of the approved deductions are processed correctly.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☐Provide essential and mandated service
☐Be community focused
Staff Recommendation: The Finance Department would recommend adopting a resolution that states the county will only permit those employee payroll deductions that are for the following purposes; (1) required tax withholdings, (2) wage garnishments mandated by court order or governmental agency, (3) applicable county-wide benefits offered to all employees, and (4) those bargaining unit dues as required by law or applicable collective bargaining agreements. .
Concurrence: N/A.