July 10, 2007 - "State
Auditor on Sheriff Bonus Policies"
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State Auditor on Sheriff Bonus Policies
July 10, 2007
For Immediate
Release Contact: Tom
Salmon, 802-828-2281
July 10,
2007
Tom.Salmon@state.vt.us
Cell phone: 802-376-6101
State Auditor
and Vermont Sheriffs’ Association working to develop new accounting
manual and policies & procedures for employee bonuses
MONTPELIER – For the past five months
Tom Salmon, Vermont’s State Auditor of Accounts, and the Vermont
Sheriffs’ Association and bookkeeping staff have been meeting to revise
the uniform accounting manual used by Vermont’s 14 County Sheriff’s
Departments.
“Along with the accounting manual, we
will also be recommending new attention to policies and procedures
addressing the issue of employee recognition and merit bonus payments,”
State Auditor Tom Salmon said today at the monthly meeting with the
Sheriffs’ Association.
Salmon said the need for clearer
policies became apparent after an independent audit of the Essex County
Sheriff’s Department this spring revealed that outgoing Essex County
Sheriff Amos Colby awarded bonus paychecks last December totaling
$24,500 to about a dozen employees, including his wife and daughter.
Salmon said the Essex County
Sheriff’s Department did not have a policy about how bonuses can be
earned, who can authorize them, and how much can be awarded.
He suggested that the Sheriffs’
Association develop recommendations for all Sheriffs about how employees
can be nominated for a merit bonus, the maximum amount which can be
awarded each year, the performance criteria for a bonus, and who can
authorize a bonus in case of a conflict of interest.
“It’s important to have clear
policies in place so that the taxpayers are never in the dark about the
appropriateness of bonus payments,” Salmon said.
Lamoille County Sheriff and president
of the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association Roger Marcoux Jr. said clearer
guidance on employee recognition will help all Sheriffs. “Our
association is committed to a high level of public accountability and
public trust. Guidelines that give a county Sheriff the ability to
reward a deserving employee for superior performance, while maintaining
fiscal accountability, will give people confidence that departments are
being managed at a high level,” he said.
Salmon noted that State government
has published policies for all departments and agencies related to the
granting of bonuses for exceptional performance by employees, and to the
concept of employee recognition in general.
He said State policy notes that “the
use of merit and bonus awards is a positive way to inspire excellence in
performance and an appropriate way to reward those employees who
contribute beyond expectations.” The State requires that departments
adopt written policies that describe the guidelines for merit increases,
the review and approval process, and how decisions and amounts will be
documented.
Auditors noted in their report that
the Essex County bonuses were “unprecedented” and “inappropriate”
because they were awarded when the Department incurred a net loss of
$54,390 during the previous seven months.
Salmon noted that Sheriff Colby had a
distinguished career and was praised for bravery and leadership in the
past by the Vermont Legislature. “These bonus payments appear to be an
unfortunate postscript to a fine career serving the residents of Essex
County,” said Salmon.
Colby, the longtime Essex County
Sheriff, had announced last summer that he would not seek re-election in
the November 2006 general election.
Steven Gadapee defeated Jeffery
Noyes, one of the Essex County Sheriff Department’s deputies, in the
general election by a vote of 1,350 to 1,077. Sheriff Gadapee assumed
office February 1, 2007. He recently asked the Vermont Attorney
General’s office to review the bonus payments.
State law requires an audit of a
county Sheriff’s Department each time a new Sheriff assumes office.
Auditors found that during the time the Department was losing money,
“financial reports, which would have alerted management to the
situation, were not produced and reviewed by responsible officials
during the period.” Auditors noted that a significant portion of
Department revenue is non-recurring. “Thus, it’s important to develop
and maintain a reserve for the periods of weak revenue,” Salmon said.
Salmon also criticized the two Essex
County Assistant Judges for co-signing the bonus checks. “State law
calls for the assistant judges to provide extra scrutiny of
disbursements when a Sheriff is leaving office,” Salmon said. “The
Assistant Judges approved the checks without clear documentation
supporting the expenditures,” he added. Salmon also said the assistant
judges are required by law to submit a report on interim expenditures to
the State Auditor by mid-February. After a request by the Auditor, the
report was received June 20.
County Sheriffs are paid as employees
of the State with a salary set by the Legislature at $66,820 as of July,
2006, in addition to other payments a Sheriff may receive as part of
local service contracts.
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