County officials defend performance bonuses during layoffs
While some of their co-workers were getting pink slips last year, about 100 El Paso County workers were getting bonuses ranging from $250 up to $2,000.
In all, the following four county departments handed out $81,000 to reward the performance of 94 employees:
• Assessor Mark Lowderman — $49,500 to 51 employees; $250 to $1,500 each.
• County Attorney Bill Louis — $15,250 to 17 employees; $750 to $2,000.
• Treasurer Sandra Damron — $8,750 to 16 employees; $250 to $1,000.
• Public Trustee Tom Mowle — $7,500 to 10 employees; $375 to $1,125.
Department heads said the bonuses were justified because remaining employees are having to do the work of those who were laid off.
“I feel that a year-end bonus is an effective way to reward hard work, and a job well done, all without increasing on-going budgets,” Lowderman said in an e-mail, adding he’ll do it again this year if he has the money.
The Treasurer’s Office had four employees quit or retire last year, Damron said, requiring her staff to work harder.
“Also, county employees have seen no raises since 2005,” she said in an e-mail and noted workers pay more for health benefits after commissioners cut the county’s share. “Bonuses are a way to thank the employees for their hard work.”
Louis called the bonuses “a good business practice.”
“I have an outstanding staff and I try to do this every year toward the end of the year,” he said, noting his staff is the smallest in the state for a county this size.
Mowle, too, cited heavy workload as the reason. “It’s a way of rewarding the people who have demonstrated the best work,” he said.
Sheriff Terry Maketa and Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink, who laid off workers in late 2008 and early 2009 due to the county’s budget crunch, didn’t give bonuses.
The county laid off 111 workers and eliminated 69 positions last year due to declining revenues.
The bonuses were pointed out to The Gazette by County Commissioner Dennis Hisey after Lowderman complained commissioners cut his $22,000 travel and training budget, forcing appraisers to pay required licensing expenses from their own pockets.
Hisey said the assessor could have used the bonus money for travel expenses. He also noted nonboard elected officials, such as Lowderman, have autonomy over their budgets, and they, not commissioners, make spending decisions.
Lowderman noted, however, that his training budget was specifically red-lined.
The Public Trustee’s Office is autonomous and is run by a governor’s appointee. The county attorney reports to commissioners.
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