After the Lincoln County Quorum Court meeting held on September 20, Justices voted to approve a Premium Pay Incentive from money received from the American Rescue Plan for all county employees who worked eligible hours between January 27, 2020, and May 31, 2021.
Justices Brad Henley, Edwin Branson, Lee Spikes met in a financial Committee Meeting on September 16 and decided to present a plan that included: paying eligible employees $4 per hour worked during applicable dates, and the justices will receive 110.83 per Quorum Court, from which all applicable payroll deductions shall be made.
The plan also outlined that current employees, those that are no longer employed with the county if they worked between the applicable dates, and deceased employees who worked between the applicable dates are all eligible to receive that additional money.
The total payout to the Lincoln County employees amounted to $806,896.34 of the total $1.26 million that the county received from the ARP.
Justice David Rochell stated that he felt that this payout was “good for rewarding the county employees.” Judge Buddy Earnest stated, “We are just trying to make the county better for all employees. I look at it as a reward to our hardworking employees for sticking with us and coming to work when they could have quit and drawn unemployment during the last year.”
The only Justice that voted against the approval was Drew Steed because of the amount of payout that the county decided to distribute.
