July 10, 2007 For Immediate Release Contact: Tom Salmon, 802-828-2281
July 10, 2007 Tom.Salmon@state.vt.us
Cell phone: 802-376-6101
State Auditor and Vermont Sheriffs’ Association working to develop new accounting manual and policies & procedures for employee bonuses
MONTPELIER – For the past five months Tom Salmon, Vermont’s State Auditor of Accounts, and the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association and bookkeeping staff have been meeting to revise the uniform accounting manual used by Vermont’s 14 County Sheriff’s Departments.
“Along with the accounting manual, we will also be recommending new attention to policies and procedures addressing the issue of employee recognition and merit bonus payments,” State Auditor Tom Salmon said today at the monthly meeting with the Sheriffs’ Association.
Salmon said the need for clearer policies became apparent after an independent audit of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department this spring revealed that outgoing Essex County Sheriff Amos Colby awarded bonus paychecks last December totaling $24,500 to about a dozen employees, including his wife and daughter.
Salmon said the Essex County Sheriff’s Department did not have a policy about how bonuses can be earned, who can authorize them, and how much can be awarded.
He suggested that the Sheriffs’ Association develop recommendations for all Sheriffs about how employees can be nominated for a merit bonus, the maximum amount which can be awarded each year, the performance criteria for a bonus, and who can authorize a bonus in case of a conflict of interest.
“It’s important to have clear policies in place so that the taxpayers are never in the dark about the appropriateness of bonus payments,” Salmon said.
Lamoille County Sheriff and president of the Vermont Sheriffs’ Association Roger Marcoux Jr. said clearer guidance on employee recognition will help all Sheriffs. “Our association is committed to a high level of public accountability and public trust. Guidelines that give a county Sheriff the ability to reward a deserving employee for superior performance, while maintaining fiscal accountability, will give people confidence that departments are being managed at a high level,” he said.
Salmon noted that State government has published policies for all departments and agencies related to the granting of bonuses for exceptional performance by employees, and to the concept of employee recognition in general.
He said State policy notes that “the use of merit and bonus awards is a positive way to inspire excellence in performance and an appropriate way to reward those employees who contribute beyond expectations.” The State requires that departments adopt written policies that describe the guidelines for merit increases, the review and approval process, and how decisions and amounts will be documented.
Auditors noted in their report that the Essex County bonuses were “unprecedented” and “inappropriate” because they were awarded when the Department incurred a net loss of $54,390 during the previous seven months.
Salmon noted that Sheriff Colby had a distinguished career and was praised for bravery and leadership in the past by the Vermont Legislature. “These bonus payments appear to be an unfortunate postscript to a fine career serving the residents of Essex County,” said Salmon.
Colby, the longtime Essex County Sheriff, had announced last summer that he would not seek re-election in the November 2006 general election.
Steven Gadapee defeated Jeffery Noyes, one of the Essex County Sheriff Department’s deputies, in the general election by a vote of 1,350 to 1,077. Sheriff Gadapee assumed office February 1, 2007. He recently asked the Vermont Attorney General’s office to review the bonus payments.
State law requires an audit of a county Sheriff’s Department each time a new Sheriff assumes office. Auditors found that during the time the Department was losing money, “financial reports, which would have alerted management to the situation, were not produced and reviewed by responsible officials during the period.” Auditors noted that a significant portion of Department revenue is non-recurring. “Thus, it’s important to develop and maintain a reserve for the periods of weak revenue,” Salmon said.
Salmon also criticized the two Essex County Assistant Judges for co-signing the bonus checks. “State law calls for the assistant judges to provide extra scrutiny of disbursements when a Sheriff is leaving office,” Salmon said. “The Assistant Judges approved the checks without clear documentation supporting the expenditures,” he added. Salmon also said the assistant judges are required by law to submit a report on interim expenditures to the State Auditor by mid-February. After a request by the Auditor, the report was received June 20.
County Sheriffs are paid as employees of the State with a salary set by the Legislature at $66,820 as of July, 2006, in addition to other payments a Sheriff may receive as part of local service contracts.
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