Warren County approves per‑diem return of retiring deputy treasurer to support year‑end and audit work

County Treasurer Ms. Martin asked the Finance and Budget Committee to approve a temporary per‑diem appointment for the county's retiring deputy treasurer so that the office can complete year‑end closings and support the 2024 external audit and upcoming budget work. The committee approved the request; a single supervisor voiced opposition during the vote.

Ms. Martin said the proposal is intended to preserve institutional knowledge and reduce risk during the transition, and she described flexibility in hours (examples given: four to 16 hours a week) so the county can use the per‑diem only for “strategic” tasks that require long‑tenured experience. She said the county expects to move quickly from closing the books into the 2024 annual external audit and that the former deputy could also assist with the 2026 budget process.

Ms. Martin read a recommendation from the county’s external auditor (a partner at the auditing firm) that “an ideal succession plan would allow direct mentoring for at least 6 months to a year,” and said the partner advised that the cost of short‑term mentoring is “most cost effective to be proactive and control the costs upfront rather than having to clean up the back end if there is a mess.” The auditor’s remark was framed as a practitioner observation based on experience with other New York counties.

Several supervisors pressed for details on pay and precedent. One supervisor asked whether past rehiring of retirees set a norm and questioned a roughly “nearly a hundred dollars an hour” figure cited during discussion. Ms. Martin said the per‑diem would be charged at the retiree’s last hourly rate (the packet lists a current hourly rate of 76.53) and that higher requests had been moderated during committee review. She also said the county expects the arrangement to be budget‑favorable because the rehired deputy would not be on the payroll for a full year and the incoming deputy’s salary would be lower. Ms. Martin told the committee the request was vetted in the personnel committee and that the county had included a $35,000 per‑diem authorization in the proposed resolution.

The motion to permit the per‑diem rehiring was seconded and carried by voice vote with one supervisor stating opposition. The committee did not read a roll‑call tally during the voice vote.

The resolution as presented in committee text contains numeric inconsistencies (see clarifying details). The approved item authorizes temporary/per‑diem return of the retiring deputy treasurer for a time and dollar limit to be used for mentorship, audit support and strategic review; exact hours and a final per‑hour rate were discussed but not uniformly specified in the public record.

Ending: The county will proceed with the rehiring authorization; the treasurer indicated the former deputy will be used strategically and the county will monitor use of the funded hours and remaining budget authority.