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Polk County commissioners approve personnel actions, bonuses and equipment purchases
Summary
The court approved routine personnel actions, one-time discretionary bonuses for county employees, a three-step pay increase for the chief deputy, FY26 budget revisions, purchases of docking stations ($7,500), Axon body-camera Year 2 payments ($49,439.10 and $53,844.77), and a financed motor grader ($96,122.50).
Polk County Commissioners Court approved a series of personnel actions, targeted one-time bonuses and capital purchases at its regular session.
The court approved the preliminary personnel action forms and had no emergency hires to report. It then approved a one-time discretionary bonus corrected to $1,300 for Robert Blakely (Precinct 3) and a $1,732.80 bonus for Kayla Pitts (Precinct 4) after commissioners noted each employee had reached step 16 and was not eligible for a step increase.
Sheriff Lyon’s request for a three-step discretionary pay increase for Chief Deputy Anthony Lowery — an exception to the county personnel policy’s two-step guideline — was presented and approved after explanation of the rationale provided in the sheriff’s request letter.
The court approved FY26 budget revisions (proposal 20-26-06) as presented by the county auditor and then approved capital purchases to be paid from the general fund balance and included on the FY26 reimbursement resolution. Approved items included laptop docking stations for sheriff vehicles from Cloud Tech Incorporated ($7,500.46) and Year 2 payments under the five-year Axon agreements: $49,439.10 for the jail and $53,844.77 for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office; the contracts include midterm and end-of-agreement replacements and replacement of malfunctioning cameras.
Equipment purchases for Road and Bridge were also approved: a 2020 motor grader for Precinct 1 at $96,122.50 with trade-in and a four-year finance term (quoted interest 5.3%, estimated annual payment $27,200.68), and an award related to bid 2026-13 for a motor grader for Precinct 4 to be paid from Commissioner Cassidy’s fund balance.
Votes at a glance: - Approval to table Oct. 14 minutes: motion carried. - Personnel actions (Item 15a): approved (motion carries). - Bonus, Robert Blakely (Precinct 3): $1,300 — approved. - Bonus, Kayla Pitts (Precinct 4): $1,732.80 — approved. - Chief Deputy Anthony Lowery — three-step discretionary increase: approved. - FY26 budget revisions (20-26-06): approved. - Docking stations (Cloud Tech Inc.): $7,500.46 — approved. - Axon cameras Year 2 (jail): $49,439.10 — approved. - Axon cameras Year 2 (sheriff’s office): $53,844.77 — approved. - Motor grader (Precinct 1): $96,122.50 with 4-year finance — approved. - Bid 2026-13 (motor grader, Precinct 4): awarded — approved.
Commissioners recorded each vote by voice; minutes reflect unanimous "aye" responses where recorded. The court did not attach additional conditions to these approvals during the session.
