EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
At the recent Seward County Commission meeting, Chairman Scott Carr reviewed several items that have been shared by public members including the county’s lucrative benefits package when it comes to the Paid Time Off policy.
“It’s been in effect since 1997,” Carr said. “The max 512 is very comparable to other taxing entities.”
But a comparison to the City of Liberal shows the county’s benefit is much more expensive to the taxpayers than the city plan.
For a two-year employee, Seward County provides 230 percent more paid time off, providing 23 days off to the more standard 10 days at the City of Liberal.
A 6-year employee can accrue 186 percent more time off working for Seward County, getting 26 days off compared to 14 for a city employee.
A 12-year employee with Seward County receives 183 percent more days off than a Liberal employee (33 days to 18 days).
A 15-year worker for the City of Liberal will still earn 18 days of paid time off while a Seward County employee will get 38 days or 211 percent more.
As far as maximum accrued days, Seward County employees receive 133 percent more days than an equivalent city employee.
Policies at the City of Liberal vary slightly for police and fire staff.
Counties like Pawnee and Lyons do not allow employees to trade time off for payments, and in Lyons County there is no carry over of Paid Time Off from one year to the next.
