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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has approved the American Rescue Plan Act stimulus fund allocation to provide bonuses of up to $ 2,500 to county employees for their work during the pandemic.
Tuesday’s vote allocates about $ 76 million out of the county’s first round of $ 187 million stimulus funds to provide one-time payments to nearly all 22,000 county employees by Dec. 3.
The county is expected to receive its second round of $ 187 million in federal stimulus funding in May 2022.
The only county employees excluded from receiving bonuses that the county calls “hero pay” are the five county supervisors and County Director Jeff Smith. This means that high-level positions such as sheriff, district attorney and county assessor – who each earned between $ 330,000 and $ 460,000 in total compensation in fiscal 2019 – will also receive a bonus. of $ 2,500.
It’s a notion that made Supervisor Otto Lee seemingly uncomfortable and may explain his decision to abstain in the vote. Had he voted in his favor, the hero’s salary would have been passed unanimously by the board of directors.
“I’m worried about how this happened. I wouldn’t, as an elected official, vote for a $ 2,500 bonus for myself,” Lee said. “I think, for so many reasons, that the amount that has been provided here seems, I know it’s very generous, but in some ways it’s too generous.”
After Lee expressed reservations, supervisor Cindy Chavez made an amendment to exclude all five county supervisors from getting a bonus – a move supported by all county supervisors.
Lee also demanded that staff create a way for county employees not to charge the hero for those who feel uncomfortable or don’t need to receive the $ 2,500.
Board chairman Mike Wasserman tried to extend the hero’s salary to Smith, due to his “Herculean” efforts during the pandemic, but Smith refused to accept it.
As it stands, full-time employees will receive $ 2,500 and part-time county employees will receive a prorated amount based on full-time equivalent status and any overtime worked.
Independent home support service providers used by the county to provide services to elderly or disabled residents will receive a bonus of $ 500 from the county to increase the additional $ 500 they receive from the state.
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg noted that the $ 2,500 is double what other counties in the same population give in hero wages.
Smith said the reason for the amount was that he felt it was what supervisors wanted and joked that it was because the board is “twice as progressive.”
“We were confident that everyone employed in the county was vigorously participating to the greatest extent possible in the response to the pandemic,” Smith said. “Therefore, we didn’t think administratively that we could take on a particular group or job or activity that deserved more money than any other.”
Smith also noted that the stimulus funding stipulates that some are to be used for heroes’ pay, so the granting of these bonuses is in line with how the federal government envisioned the use of those dollars.
“We’re just following the intent of the bill,” Smith said.
The county is also in the process of deciding how to provide bonuses to the estimated 3,000 “extra auxiliary workers” who did not have a regular schedule and instead supported the county’s efforts on and off. Additional auxiliary workers, often referred to as permanent intermittent workers, can be found in “just about any department doing a wide variety of things,” including nurses, clerks, secretaries or social workers, Smith said.
“We still have to find a formula,” continued the county executive. “We haven’t been able to come up with anything we can agree on.”
Smith said the county will still need to deliberate with multiple unions to make sure everyone is on board with the hero’s pay before the money is distributed in December.
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