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Auditor seeks to restore real estate staff and reclassify payroll role; board questions new hires amid tight budget
Summary
Pottawattamie County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa asked supervisors to approve hiring a real estate specialist and a reclassified payroll/benefits coordinator. Supervisors debated whether the auditor could add staff given budget pressures and reliance on interest income to balance the county budget.
Pottawattamie County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa asked the Board of Supervisors to approve hiring a new real estate specialist to restore the auditor’s real estate team to two staff members, and separately to approve a reclassification and hire for a payroll and benefits coordinator.
Hanusa told the board the office has historically had at least two staff in the real estate department but is down to one following a departure. She said she has funds in her budget to hire the position and asked for the board’s approval to proceed. Hanusa also said she reclassified the payroll role after 29 years and that the reclassification required board approval even though it was funded from existing budget lines.
Supervisor concerns were fiscal: a supervisor noted the county relied on an assumed $1.2 million of interest income to balance the budget and said adding staff where other departments had been denied additional positions at budget time would be difficult to support. Hanusa responded that she had the salary money in her budget lines and that her choice of a deputy earlier in the year was driven by a need for policy and procedure expertise to protect taxpayer dollars.
Brad Swope, the auditor’s remaining real estate staff, told the board his workload is full and that he needs help. Hanusa said the office is cross-training other employees and that Candy at the front desk and Jody have been helping; she also said the state auditor’s office was conducting work in the office and that some staff time was consumed by that process.
The supervisors voted to approve the auditor’s request to hire the real estate specialist and later approved the payroll/benefits reclassification and hire. No additional county funds were requested; Hanusa said she would use existing salary lines.
Hanusa said her deputy hire had been chosen for experience in procedures and policies to strengthen internal controls, citing issues such as how vendor rebates are handled in county purchasing. Several supervisors supported moving forward with the hires after hearing workload and internal-control explanations.
