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Commissioners approve overtime pay for flood-response staff, authorize sweeping grant pursuit
Summary
The court voted to pay nonexempt county employees overtime for July flood response and authorized the grant coordinator to pursue disaster recovery grants, including animal-shelter relief; the judge added disaster declaration DR-4879-TX to the overtime order and staff will rerun payroll to expedite payment.
Kendall County commissioners voted July 22 to pay overtime to nonexempt county staff who worked during the July flooding and to authorize the county’s grant coordinator to apply for time-sensitive disaster funding.
The county judge moved to approve paying overtime (rather than only comp time) to nonexempt employees who responded to the July 4 flood. Auditor and HR staff explained the county’s existing disaster policy (adopted October 2023) allows the court to order overtime pay for nonexempt employees; exempt employees would require a separate two-step order (authorize accrual of comp time and then order payout). The judge’s motion was amended on the record to include the disaster declaration number DR-4879-TX. Commissioners approved the motion 4–0; payroll staff indicated checks could be issued by Friday as a special payroll run.
Separately, grant coordinator Christina Pacey asked for broad authority to apply for disaster-related grants tied to the governor’s declaration, citing time-sensitive application windows for programs (for example, flood-warning systems, emergency communications, and debris cleanup). The court authorized the grant coordinator to pursue disaster funding and submit required documents, with the clear caveat that any award requiring a substantial local match would return to the court for final acceptance. The vote was 4–0.
The court also approved authorization to pursue animal-shelter disaster-relief grants (PetSmart Charities, Petco Love and similar programs) after the shelter reported increased intake and veterinary costs from flood-related injuries; those applications were authorized 4–0.
Quotes and context
"I believe these circumstances warrant it because we had road and bridge guys up at 4AM multiple days," the county judge said in arguing for overtime pay, pointing to county staff who performed tasks outside their normal duties during the flood response. Corinna Spear, the county auditor, estimated the disaster payroll payout would be roughly $60,000 for this event, and staff noted part of that amount would already have been paid under existing comp-time bank rules.
Next steps
HR will process a special payroll for nonexempt employees. The grant coordinator will apply for time-limited disaster recovery programs and will work with the judge and auditor before accepting any grant that contains a significant match requirement.
