One-time payments to county employees approved by supervisors

In spite of being roundly criticized for the move, San Luis Obispo County supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved a one-time health-care cost offset payment of as much as $1,000 to the county’s 2,400 employees.

The payments, which total $2.4 million, are meant to help county staff defray the rising cost of health-care insurance, said Dan Buckshi, county administrator. An employee who chooses family coverage could spend as much as $708 in out-of-pocket expenses each month.

“To me, this is a small step in keeping our compensation fair,” said Supervisor Bruce Gibson.

However, the public did not agree. Nearly 10 people spoke against the payments, saying they are unfair to county residents who do not work for the county and have also seen significant increases in the costs of their health care.

“You are succeeding in pissing off a lot of people,” said Bill Pelfry of Templeton. “Think of something better to do with this money.”

“I want $1,000 off my property taxes,” said Tom Dawson of San Luis Obispo.

The county is able to make the one-time payments because it ended the most recent fiscal year with a $30 million surplus. In addition to the $1,000 payments, the county will use the surplus to begin restoring county departmental budgets and reserves that were drawn down during the recession, Buckshi said.

“These payments are less than one half of 1 percent of the county’s overall budget,” he said.

Supervisors said they supported payments because county employees had been willing to reduce pay and benefits during a seven-year austerity program that began in 2007. Now that the seven-year “pain plan” is over and the county’s budget is back in the black, those cuts can now be gradually restored, they said.

Supervisor Debbie Arnold said she struggled with this issue but decided to back the payments because they are a one-time event.

“This is a more responsible way to offset the health-care costs of our employees,” she said.

The payment will be in employees’ Dec. 19 checks. Full-time employees will receive the full $1,000 while part-time employees will receive a lesser amount according to the number of hours they work.

This story was originally published December 2, 2014 at 5:33 PM with the headline "One-time payments to county employees approved by supervisors."