The Morrow County meeting on an administrative session approved rehiring retired assessor’s office employee Patricia Hughes on a temporary, budget‑neutral basis to assist with tax‑season processing.

Unidentified Speaker 2, presenting the item, said the assessor’s office has seen turnover and that two newer staffers need short‑term help with processing. Speaker 2 said Patricia Hughes, who last worked for the office and was budgeted to help during fiscal year 2024, has not been used since June 30 and could return for up to 32 hours over the next four weeks to assist with training and workload.

"Patricia Hughes is a retired employee who was actually helping during the transition and had been budgeted to help cover during fiscal year 24," Speaker 2 said. Speaker 2 said Hughes had retired at grade 12, step 13 and that the step reflected a $26.95 hourly rate. Under the county's new‑hire policy, the presenter said rehires would normally be limited to step 4, which would be about $4 an hour less; because this is a short, budget‑neutral request, staff asked the commission to permit a temporary rehiring at step 13.

Unidentified Speaker 4 moved to "approve hiring the employee at the increased pay rate." Unidentified Speaker 2 seconded the motion. When the presiding speaker called for a vote, Speaker 4 and Speaker 1 said "Aye," and the presiding speaker declared the motion carried.

The action covers a limited, temporary assignment intended to ensure timely processing of property‑tax work during a busy period. The transcript does not specify an exact start date beyond "over the next 4 weeks," nor does it provide a written contract or personnel order; those implementation details were not discussed in the session.

The meeting adjourned after the vote.