Franklin County reviews options to move public health and home-care staff to Franklin General; board weighs payout scenarios

Franklin County supervisors spent more than 30 minutes reviewing plans to transfer public health and home-care employees to Franklin General Hospital (FGH), discussing three payout scenarios for accrued vacation and sick time and possible short-term county funding to cover wage differences and front-loaded leave.

The matter matters because the proposed transfer would shift employer responsibility for two county departments to FGH, potentially changing employee benefits, payroll administration and the county's annual operating obligations; supervisors said they want more detail in the community-health agreement ("Exhibit A") before committing to specific payout levels.

County Auditor Audrey Flint told the board she and staff have run multiple budget scenarios and that staff have prepared three written options showing different mixes of payouts and front-loading of leave if employees transition to FGH. Flint said the county also has been working with FGH and county leadership to reconcile wage adjustments created by the Board of Health step plan and to identify how long the county would subsidize any wage gap.

Under the scenarios presented, the county's potential one-time employer liability varies substantially depending on whether the county agrees to: (1) pay 100% of all remaining vacation and sick balances; (2) pay only accrued vacation balances; or (3) pay 100% of vacation and 50% of sick balances. Board materials shown to supervisors included line items labeled "payout to employees" and a bottom-line example of the county's total employer cost if no transfer occurred (listed in the materials as $552,140 for fiscal year 2026), which supervisors called an important baseline for comparison.

Flint and staff also presented the operational mechanics that would follow any transfer: employees would be offered individualized job letters from FGH, FGH would place transferred staff on its PTO/benefit scale (and employees would pick up FGH accruals retroactively where applicable), and the county and hospital would meet subsequently to determine how to handle any ongoing operating shortfall beyond the initial transition period.

Supervisors asked about tax and payroll implications of paying employee health insurance or other benefits as a transition incentive; staff cautioned that employer-paid health premiums would create a taxable benefit and complicate bookkeeping across two HR systems, and therefore had been effectively removed from consideration in the current proposals.

No formal motion or vote took place. Multiple supervisors said they preferred to wait until FGH formally signs the community-health agreement and Exhibit A is finalized by the Franklin County Board of Health before approving any payout level. Staff were asked to provide additional detail on: exact premium amounts for the FGH plans, an itemized list of the three scenarios by employee, and confirmation of whether front-loaded days would count toward FGH payout caps if an employee separates after the transition.

If Exhibit A and the community-health agreement proceed, county staff indicated the preferred timing would be to align the employee transition with the start of the new fiscal year so payroll and benefits administration could move cleanly to FGH.