Sedgwick County approves car allowances policy

The Sedgwick County Commission voted to open the door for four more county officials to get car allowances of up to $4,800 a year.

The 5-0 vote gives new County Manager Michael Scholes the authority to establish guidelines for the use of car allowances, which pay for officials’ use of their private cars for county business.

Currently, the county manager, all five county commissioners, District Attorney Marc Bennett, Regional Forensic Science Center director Timothy Rohrig and Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department director Thomas Stolz have car allowances. Sheriff Jeff Easter uses a county vehicle.

The four officials who do not receive an allowance now are County Treasurer Linda Kizzire, County Clerk Kelly Arnold, Register of Deeds Bill Meek and Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman.

The county did not have an official policy about the allowances before Wednesday, County Assistant Manager Ron Holt said.

“I believe it’s reasonable to have the manager manage this policy, and it seems reasonable that the elected officials would be treated equally,” Commissioner Jim Howell said.

The allowances are considered taxable compensation added to officials’ paychecks, but they don’t count toward retirement or future raises.

The allowances cannot be more than $400 a month, according to a draft of the policy.

Arnold and Meek previously pushed for car allowances. But the commission tabled their request in June and asked the manager’s office to develop guidelines.

They could choose whether to request the allowances as part of their budgets.

“There is no requirement for someone to take a car allowance; this is simply optional,” Howell said.

Some of the officials, like Meek and Lehman, say that could vary from year to year.

“It really depends on the election cycle and how many times you’re going to have to end up going to Topeka,” Meek said.

Kizzire said earlier this week that she’s not interested in a car allowance.

Unruh said it was good the county clarified its policy on allowances. But he said he had doubts some officials would need it given how much time they spend working at the downtown courthouse.

Howell criticized the idea that a car allowance was a perk. He said car allowances will be used responsibly.

“These are elected folks, and we’re not talking about a huge amount of money,” Howell said. “They can justify the reasons why they need it or would use a car allowance. Give them some trust.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County approves car allowances policy."