Commissioners focus on county debt, staff’ compensation

The Darke County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the county’s outstanding debts and to renew the county’s employee compensation plan.

Darke County Media Image

GREENVILLE – The Darke County Board of Commissioners met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the county’s outstanding debt and to renew the county’s workforce compensation plan. Commissioners Matt Aultman and Mike Stegall were present. Inspector Larry Holmes was absent.

The Board approved the resolution (R-122-2021) to redeem outstanding callable bonds. The bonds presented at the meeting are located in Greenville on Wagner Ave. and currently host Goodwill and the Edison State Community College. There are three bonds: one for structures, an additional property, and property renovations.

The commissioners said this was the start of the process, but they would have to do this to repay the bonds. There is a procedure for notifying the bank that made you loan and that is the notification that they will pay off the debt, they said. The agents will repay the third bond, which includes the property renovation, by the end of May, increasing the balance on this bond from $ 740.00 to $ 345,000.

Commissioner Matt Aultman said the tax preservation will allow the board to raise funds to repay the bonds.

“When Mr Aultman was first elected, he and I talked quite a bit about how we would like to reduce this (outstanding debt),” said Commissioner Mike Stegall. “This is really a first step and a dream come true for both of us because we really want to reduce the county’s debt as much as possible.”

Kelly Everhart, Human Resources Coordinator and Business Manager for Darke County, presented the board with an employer statement statement and a plan agreement on the evaluation plan for the county’s workforce compensation grade. The county has been approved for the group assessment program in lieu of the group retro program it previously participated in.

The new program enables the county to save $ 25,000 upfront in employee compensation costs. In the group retro program the county is currently participating in, the board would continue to pay an inflated amount and wait to see if it could potentially get retro savings again in the next three or four years.

Everhart recommended that the Board approve the move to the group assessment program. She said this means the county is doing a good job managing its workers’ compensation claims and that not every county in the state is eligible to switch to the group assessment program. To be eligible for the group grading program, your multiplier must be less than one.

The Darke County Board of Commissioners meets every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at its office at 520 S. Broadway Street in Greenville. To contact the office call 937-547-7370.

The Darke County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the county’s outstanding debts and to renew the county’s employee compensation plan.

Comments are closed.