The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a jam-packed work session for Thursday, August 17 at 3 p.m.to talk about a list of issues that includes some items the board put off during the two months of budget discussions that culminated in the 2023-2024 fiscal year county budget adopted in June.
The commissioners, like many other people in the state, had a light schedule in July, but this late summer afternoon work session – which will be followed immediately by a regular meeting Thursday night – is a sign that things are shifting back into high gear for the commissioners. The board will meet in the Carolyn Coleman Conference Room on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro.
The official stated purpose of the work session is to “discuss total rewards proposals recommended by the County Manager; receive an update on Medicaid expansion and County readiness; review GTCC Capital Needs and the Aviation Phase I project; and conduct any other necessary business.”
The commissioners have been very good to county employees in recent years – giving them a lot of new benefits and pay increases However, when county staff came to the board in June asking for even more benefits in the new county budget, the board decided to put things on hold and consider the requests separately. It’s not known yet whether the board will take any action during the work session.
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said one reason the board was OK with holding off on the requests was that these aren’t budget matters per se. Instead, Alston said, the requests pertain to things like additional time off for bereavement.
Originally, County Manager Mike Halford and his staff were seeking more paid time off for caregiver leave, bereavement leave, and parental school leave and they also want to change – to the employees’ benefit – the way vacation days are accrued. In addition, Halford has been asking the board to triple the current $600 per year amount of tuition reimbursement employees get for continuing their education.
County employees already get time off for caregiver and bereavement leave due to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). However, staff wants those days off to be paid days rather than unpaid.
Two months ago, when the commissioners first heard the requests some on the board seemed to feel they were over reaching so the new requests may be scaled back when presented again this week.
The Guilford County Division of Social Services is hiring a whole lot of Medicaid workers to handle Medicaid expansion in the state and the board will get an update on that process. The department is having to ramp up those services quickly to be operational when expansion occurs.
Also slated to be discussed at the meeting is potential additional funding for Guilford Technical Community College – especially money meant for programs at the college that train aviation workers. That’s on the commissioners plate due to the amazing job that Piedmont Triad International Airport has been doing pulling in new business recently.
Anyone who wishes to watch the August 17 work session can do so by visiting Zoomhttps://www.zoomgov.com/j/1606936968, completing the webinar registration and selecting the option to join from the confirmation email prior to the meeting.
The work session will also be livestreamed on Guilford County’s Facebook page.
The agenda will be available sometime before the meeting at https://guilford.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Those with questions should contact Deputy Clerk Ariane Webb at awebb@guilfordcountync.gov with any questions.
Lol…come on Skip! Another plan to screw the taxpayer on your numerous wasteful projects.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Lots of taxpayer money to buy votes.
Who cares nothing but taxpayer money
Let’s find out how many private sector workers get the benefits Mr. Halford wants for government employees before we just keep giving away our tax dollars.
Will this rampant spending ever end?
As former GC employees, I can attest that unpaid caregiver/family leave wasn’t always helpful for me or my husband. When my mom who lived in California was seriously injured in an accident my husband had to use his vacation time when we made trips to help care for her each year. During the first year when we made two 2-week trips out, once while she was still in the hospital, and again to help settle her at home, he was fortunate enough that co-workers donated time so he didn’t lose pay. My mom’s injury resulted in her being a quadriplegic and needing intensive home care, while his mom who lived here needed care because she had dementia. He worked 12-hour days as an emergency services dispatcher including holidays and weekends. Getting time off was extremely difficult as finding part-time help was never easy when employees took time off. There were several times when we’d be in CA and he’d get a call telling him he was needed for the next shift, an irritating situation since he wasn’t going to hop a plane in order to come into work.
Paid caregiver leave for parents, spouses, and family members is a reasonable benefit, just as is sick leave and vacation leave. If you want to live in a growing metro area, and apparently many of you do, then you must pay for the people needed to provide quality services. You can either decide to pay for whoever walks off the street, can read note cards, answer a phone, and will leave is someone offers them +$2/hour; or you can offer better benefits and salary for people with brains, education, and experience who will give you excellent service and longevity.
I would say hide your wallets but they’ll just send goonsq,,,I mean tax collectors to take your property.