Morrow County officials voted to approve a short-term, budget-neutral rehiring of retired assessor staff member Patricia Hughes to assist with tax-season workload.

Speaker 2, an Assessor’s Office staff member, told the meeting that turnover over the past year left the office short-staffed during tax season and that Hughes, who retired at grade 12, step 13, had helped during a prior transition. "We do have a little bit of room in the budget to have her come back on a very, very limited basis, only about 32 hours over the next 4 weeks," Speaker 2 said, adding that Hughes had previously been paid "$26.95 dollars an hour." Speaker 2 said the rehiring was not budgeted for fiscal year 25 but characterized the request as budget-neutral for the short term.

The request included an exception to the typical new-hire policy. Speaker 2 explained that the county lacks a formal rehire policy and that the new-hire rules would limit an offer to step 4 unless the commission approves otherwise. "When she retired, she was at grade 12, step 13, maxed out at $26.95 dollars an hour," Speaker 2 said, and asked the commission to allow hiring Patricia Hughes at grade 12, step 13 for up to 32 hours.

Speaker 4 moved to approve the hire "at the increased pay rate," and Speaker 2 seconded the motion. On the voice vote, Speaker 4 and Speaker 1 said "Aye," and Speaker 1 announced the motion carried. The motion as recorded: "hire the employee at the increased pay rate" (mover: Speaker 4; seconder: Speaker 2). Vote tally recorded in the meeting was two 'Aye' responses and no recorded 'No' or 'Abstain' responses in the transcript.

The action is limited in scope: it authorizes a temporary rehire for up to 32 hours over approximately four weeks to assist with processing and training in the assessor’s office. No further funding source breakdown was specified in the discussion, and the staff member noted FY25 did not specifically budget for the rehiring.