Board questions late township claims, approves HR raise effective May 1 and delayed start dates for hires

During the May 5 meeting the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors spent time questioning the timeliness of claims presented for payment and approved a personnel memorandum with clarified effective dates for recent hires.

Several supervisors raised concern after reviewing claims that some township invoices dated as far back as 2020 were recently submitted for payment. One board member said it “struck me as odd” that claims could go back six years; staff replied the county has no formal timeliness rule and that the auditor and staff check older claims against township minutes and prior board-set amounts before posting them to the current fiscal year. Joshua had reviewed some of the items and staff said township clerks sometimes hold claims and submit them later. Board members agreed the issue could be addressed by researching prior resolutions or by drafting a rule setting a submission window.

Separately, the board debated the effective date for the HR director’s approved raise. The agenda noted May 1 while the payroll backup listed April 27 (the start of the pay period). Staff said past practice often applies raises at the start of the pay period unless the motion specifies another date. The board agreed to set the HR director’s raise effective May 1. The board also approved moving start dates for Pamela Bonstead and Vicky Acriman to May 13.

The consent vote approving items two and three, and the separate vote on the personnel memorandum with the date changes, were recorded as passing without opposition in the meeting excerpt.