Friday, Jul. 04, 2008

County nixes bonuses for retirement notice

By CORINNE REILLY
creilly@mercedsun-star.com

The Merced County Board of Supervisors finalized a decision this week to scrap a controversial policy that gives bonuses to elected officials who provide at least one-year notice before leaving office.

The board voted Tuesday to rescind the bonus, formalizing a tentative decision it made last month.

"I think the option we're looking at today is the right one -- the fairest one for everyone in Merced County and its employees," Supervisor Jerry O'Banion said before the unanimous vote.

The bonus dates back to 2001 when the board approved a resolution that gives a 5 percent pay increase to all top-level county managers -- including both elected and appointed department heads -- in exchange for providing the county with at least one-year notice before quitting or retiring.

The bonus is meant to encourage high-level employees to give early notice, allowing the county plenty of time to find qualified successors.

Since its approval, however, the policy has drawn criticism from union leaders, a taxpayer advocacy group and the public.

They have asked why the bonus is extended to elected officials whose term ending dates are known from the time they take office and who are replaced by voters, not by the Board of Supervisors.

This week's decision removes elected officials from the list of employees eligible for the bonus. Hired department heads can still collect it.

"I think applying the policy to elected officials probably didn't make sense," said Supervisor Kathleen Crookham. "I'm glad we revisited it."

The revised policy takes effect immediately, but it doesn't apply retroactively to elected officials who've already given a year's notice.

That means the county's elected auditor-controller, Stephen Jones, is still collecting the bonus. He announced plans last year to retire in January 2009. As a result, he'll earn an extra $6,800 this year.

The county's nine other elected officials -- the five supervisors, the county assessor, the district attorney, the sheriff and the treasurer-tax collector -- are no longer eligible for the increase.

A Sun-Star survey conducted earlier this year found that among the San Joaquin Valley's eight counties, Merced is the only one that offers an early-notice bonus.

To date, the bonus policy has cost county taxpayers more than $100,000.

Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com.