Finance committee recommends part-time HR hire funded by reallocated sign-on bonus money

Barnstable County finance committee members voted 4-1 on April 28 to recommend that the full Assembly of Delegates approve a part-time, non‑benefited human resources position in the county’s proposed FY2026 budget, to be funded by reallocating money from a one-time/new initiatives contingency and a sign-on bonus line.

County Administrator Dutton told the committee the hire is intended to reduce risk in the county’s human resources operations. “One of my roles as county administrator is to mitigate risk,” Dutton said, noting that a single HR director is currently managing roughly 250 full‑time equivalents and about 150 retirees. He said the proposed position would provide support to the HR director and is not intended to be a full backfill for that role.

The administrator said the position would be part time and non‑benefited and that training would be handled by the current HR director. To pay for the position, Dutton proposed reducing the “miscellaneous and contingency” line and cutting the sign‑on bonus allocation in Ordinance 2504 (the county’s one‑time and new initiatives line), moving the funds into the county commissioners’ office salary line. Dutton told the committee the change would result in “no increase to the bottom line” for this year and, as budgeted, “should not affect years going forward.” He also said the sign‑on bonus line had not yet been spent and that current hiring market conditions made a large sign‑on pool less necessary than earlier anticipated.

Vice Chair Killian asked which account would be reduced and whether the change would recur in future budgets; Dutton reiterated that the transfer would come from the one‑time/new initiatives contingency and that the way the budget was structured this year should avoid an ongoing increase to the county’s base operating budget.

Several delegates expressed support. Delegate Elliot O’Malley said the money would be better used supporting county staff than sitting in contingency, and Delegate Wyman Colombo seconded the motion to recommend the position to the full Assembly.

The committee vote on the motion to recommend the position was a roll call: Vice Chair Killian voted no; Chair Bowman voted yes; Delegate Elliot O’Malley voted yes; Delegate Warner voted yes; and Delegate Wyman Colombo voted yes. The tally was 4 yeas, 1 nay, and the motion carried. The committee then voted unanimously to adjourn.

The recommendation now goes to the full Assembly of Delegates for final approval as part of the FY2026 budget process. Details supplied to the committee included a job description said to mirror existing assistant positions in other departments and a plan for on‑the‑job training by the HR director.