Bonus for the County Team....

The NewsVirginian has copy on the possible plan for the BOS to vote on paying out a bonus package to the County staff. Good to see a surplus and I believe in paying out incentives for those who keep expenses down and save the taxpayers money.

Lets see what happens with the term limit issue... 

Augusta County supervisors to consider bonuses for employees

By: Bob Stuart | News Virginian
Published: August 21, 2012 Updated: August 21, 2012 - 7:30 AM

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VERONA, Va. -- Augusta supervisors will discuss Wednesday night a bonus for county employees based on a surplus in the 2012 budget.

Supervisors are considering either a bonus based on a percentage of the employee’s pay, or one that pays $1,000 to full-time employees and $500 to part-timers.

During a Monday staff briefing, Augusta County Finance Director Jennifer Whetzel said that a $635,539 balance remained from the recent budget year, which ended June 30.

Middle River District Supervisor Larry Wills suggested the idea of a bonus as recent county budgets have not included pay increases for workers.

Wills also said that frugal spending by county employees led to the surplus.

Supervisor David Karaffa, who represents the Beverley Manor District, said he would prefer that the surplus funds go to help the county’s schools.

He noted the release of Standards of Learning scores last week, and the difficulty students had on some of the tests. County school administrators said that the scores were lower on a newly designed math test aimed at examining critical thinking.

“The fund balance would be better in the schools,” Karaffa said.

Board Chairman Tracy Pyles said he prefers a bonus for employees.

“Every department brought money back,” Pyles said of the tightened spending by the county’s government.

Also during Monday’s briefing, Karaffa said he would like his colleagues to consider adding term limits for supervisors to the county’s legislative agenda for 2013.

South River District Supervisor David Beyeler proposed a three-term limit for supervisors at a meeting two weeks ago.

But state legislation would be needed to allow Augusta County to impose the limits.

Such legislation previously has been approved by the General Assembly, notably when state Sen. Emmett Hanger sponsored a bill to extend the county’s reassessment time to include an option of every six years.