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Wright County approves amended 28E agreement to share Veterans Affairs administrator with neighboring counties
Summary
Wright County approved an amended intergovernmental (28E) agreement with Hamilton County and another county to share a Veterans Affairs administrator; the board required the reimbursement rate include wages and benefits.
Wright County supervisors approved an amended intergovernmental (28E) agreement to have a Veterans Affairs administrator serve multiple counties, directing that the reimbursement rate include salary and benefits.
A county official told supervisors the neighboring county’s office had been vacant for roughly two months, and that the office would be closed for about two to three months while staff from other counties assist one day per week to bring files and operations up to date. The official said, "They're gonna shut the office down for 3 months and so that we can get it back up in money in order," and said staff from Kossuth and Hamilton counties would help with the transition. (verbatim as spoken)
Supervisors said the reimbursement term should include salary plus employer costs; one supervisor asked that the reimbursement rate cover "salary and benefits" including FICA and IPERS. The board asked staff to provide a hard dollar figure for inclusion in the agreement; staff agreed to calculate the combined hourly or monthly rate that includes wages and benefits and insert that amount into the 28E agreement.
The board then moved and approved the amended agreement among "Hamilton, Wright and [county name as recorded in packet]" with the amendment that the reimbursement rate include wages, FICA and IPERS benefits. The motion passed by recorded voice vote with all ayes. The board instructed staff to file the 28E agreement and coordinate signatures; Hamilton and the third county were reported to be meeting soon to finalize their parts of the arrangement.
The agreement is intended to maintain Veterans Affairs services during the staffing transition while the receiving county provides temporary administrative assistance and to define reimbursement for those services. Supervisors did not set a specific start date beyond the draft language in the packet but discussed whether the agreement should be backdated to July 1; staff will confirm the effective date once the reimbursement amount is calculated and the parties sign the agreement.
