Sedgwick County commissioners weighing change to car allowances

Sedgwick County commissioners could give the county manager the power to set officials’ car allowances this week.

The commissioners will vote Wednesday on changes in personnel policies for more than 2,500 county employees. One of the changes would give county manager Michael Scholes the authority to create guidelines for car allowances, like rates and who can use them.

It would also allow Scholes to grant car allowances of up to $400 a month to officials without them, like County Clerk Kelly Arnold, County Treasurer Linda Kizzire, Register of Deeds Bill Meek and Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman.

“The county has had no set policy on this issue, and we believe there should at least be a policy in place,” Arnold said Monday.

The personnel policy changes are on the consent agenda, which normally passes with little discussion or controversy.

The county says the guidelines would clarify who is eligible for a car allowance and would establish “car allowance limitation and conditions.”

Car allowances pay officials for the use of their private cars on county business. The allowances are considered taxable compensation on top of income, but don’t count toward retirement or future raises.

All five commissioners, Scholes, District Attorney Marc Bennett, Regional Forensic Science Center director Timothy Rohrig and Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department director Tom Stolz have active car allowances, according to county spokeswoman Jill Tinsley.

Most of those officials get about $185 after tax every two weeks. Rohrig receives less, $115, while Stolz receives more, $231.

Last June, Arnold and Meek sought a $4,800 annual car allowance. It would have acted as a 6 percent raise for their positions. That request was tabled.

“That car allowance policy has been on the manager’s to-do list since that time,” assistant county manager Ron Holt said.

Holt, who worked on the proposed change earlier this year as acting county manager, says he does not know when car allowances started or who decided the recipients.

The county’s legal and management staff recommend that commissioners make the change.

Holt said officials would have to ask for the allowances in their personnel budgets.

“It needs to go through the budgeting process,” Holt said. “While the commission is the final authority, all of the budgeting process flows through the county manager.”

Holt said he’ll meet with Scholes after the board’s vote to work on the final guidelines. Scholes started as county manager Nov. 11.

Arnold says he thinks the change makes Sedgwick County more transparent.

“I support having someone such as the manager having oversight on county travel allowances,” he said.

Arnold says, for now, he will stick to seeking reimbursements for trips based on their mileage.

County Treasurer Linda Kizzire said she would not seek an allowance.

“I have no desire to take that,” Kizzire said. “I just don’t feel it’s necessary.”

“I just follow normal county travel policy and just get reimbursed for out-of-town trips.”

Commissioner Jim Howell said car allowances are simpler for county officials compared with reimbursements, which rely on logging miles.

He added that officials like Arnold or Meek should not be excluded from getting allowances while other elected officials get them.

“If they have official county business, do we trust them as elected people to be honest or not? I think we should trust them.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County commissioners weighing change to car allowances."