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The Huron County Health Department is still waiting for the county to approve premium pay for its employees who worked during the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Officer Tip MacGuire originally sent the request in October 2021 to help those employed at the health department for hours worked during the pandemic to be paid for with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Currently there are no plans set to fund premium pay for the health department, as it was not a part of the initial approved requests from the Jan. 25 meeting.
“Our initial request in October was too high,” MacGuire told the Tribune. “The (new) request was at a lower amount after it was determined that the employer retirement portion did not need to be paid. It was almost $100,000 lower.”
The request is for $438,319 and would be distributed to 48 employees who had worked for the health department, including full-time, part-time and contract employees from March 24, 2020 though Sept. 24, 2021.
The county previously approved premium pay for both the janitorial staff, which was approved at $40,558 back in November, and the Huron County Sheriff’s Department, which was approved in late March of this year for $493,034. These funds were to be given to the employees of each department for hours worked from March 24, 2020, through May 7, 2020, and from Aug. 3, 2020, to Jan. 12, 2021.
The county commissioners agreed at the Jan. 25 meeting that they would look into the remaining requests once the current approved plans are paid for.
Of the 23 approved requests, 14 of them have since been approved with final funds agreed upon, with 10 requests either paid in full or partially paid. These include, but not limited to, the mentioned premium pay for the janitorial staff and sheriff’s office, a sewer project at the fairgrounds, duct cleaning at the health department and the VA Clinic and upgrades to the 911 phone system.
In addition, $3 million has also been set aside to help cover funding and general short falls for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, $1.5 million per year.
The funds issued by the ARPA amounted to just under $6.1 million for the county and were paid to Huron County in two halves in May 2021 and May 2022. The initial requested funds before the Jan. 25 meeting were at $10,465,919, with the county obligating $5,544,680. The deadline for obligation is Dec. 31, 2024 and the money must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
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