County attorney asks court to pause on gift-card use of $3,617 TAC grant while taxability and alternatives are reviewed

County Attorney Matthew Manning requested that the court defer action on using $3,617.10 received from the Texas Association of Counties for the Hardin County Healthy County program until staff confirms whether incentive gift cards would be taxable to employees.

Manning told the court the committee that oversees the county wellness initiative initially proposed purchasing gift cards to encourage participation in health activities, but staff raised concerns that the cards could constitute taxable income. He said his review suggested gift cards may be taxable and that he was working with TAC for guidance on whether an exception applies. He asked the court to treat the matter as a discussion item and to await TAC’s guidance before finalizing a recommendation.

Commissioners and staff discussed alternatives. Participants mentioned de minimis gifts (commonly around $100) that may be non-taxable, providing equipment (for example, fitness equipment for workplace wellness), and offering an extra personal/wellness day added to employee leave balances as an existing policy mechanism. The meeting record shows the county currently taxes certain wellness awards (for example, Fitbits) and sometimes elects to have an elected official purchase donated gift cards to avoid county payroll taxation. The court noted only about half of county employees currently participate in the program and that increasing participation could raise future TAC funding to the county.

No formal motion or vote was recorded; Manning said the committee would seek guidance from TAC and return with a recommendation at a later meeting (the transcript notes an intent to bring it back to court on April 8).