FARMINGTON – County commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to increase the mileage reimbursement rate from 40.5 cents to 48.5 cents per mile for nonunion employees.
Workers covered under a union contract automatically get reimbursed the federal rate of 48.5 cents per mile if they use their own vehicles for travel to training or meetings, Franklin County Clerk Julie Magoon said.
“Personally, I’m opposed,” Commissioner Fred Hardy said of the increase. He said other places are not paying that much and the county needs to wait until everybody else catches up.
“We’re way ahead of everybody else,” he said.
Chairman Meldon Gilmore asked “Are we way ahead or way behind?”
Commissioners use their own vehicles to go to meetings or training, as do other nonunion employees such as the county treasurer, clerk, dispatchers and Sheriff’s Department office manager.
There is a county vehicle designated to be used by jail staff to go to training, Jail Administrator Sandra Collins said.
Sheriff Dennis Pike, who opposed increasing the mileage allowance in the existing budget but was willing to reflect the increase in the Jan. 1, 2006, budget, said that key employees use a county vehicle and do not get reimbursed for mileage while using the county vehicles.
“Personally, I think it is expensive to run your vehicle,” Magoon said, with the cost of gas the way it is.
Hardy was the dissenter in the vote while Gilmore and Commissioner Gary McGrane approved it.
Treasurer Karen Robinson said she estimates the Sheriff’s Department budget to be over by at least $15,000 for patrols, and at least $15,000 for fuel expenses.
Pike also noted that Deputy Kenneth Charles, a member of the National Guard, was activated to go to the Gulf Coast to work in hurricane-ravaged areas. He also noted that the county has to pay time and a half for coverage of his shifts, because there are no part-timers who meet the criteria.
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