Tama County debates switch to PTO and county-paid disability coverage; board tentatively backs plan pending final pricing

Tama County supervisors engaged in a lengthy discussion over whether to replace separate sick and vacation banks with a combined paid-time-off (PTO) system and county-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance.

The chair and department heads presented the rationale: moving to PTO would reduce an accounting "unfunded liability" tied to large accrued sick balances (some employees hold as much as 800 hours), simplify time-off administration and create a more competitive package for recruiting. The chair said the county is considering multiple PTO schedule options; department heads favored option two for its even progression of days across service levels.

Under the proposals discussed, employees with 15 years of continuous service would receive 33 days of PTO per year; new hires could receive up to 30 days after an initial qualifying period. The county discussed preserving existing sick-bank balances for qualifying Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences, meaning those accrued banks would still be available in certain long-term situations.

Supervisors also debated adding county-funded short-term and long-term disability insurance alongside PTO. One figure repeatedly cited for disability payout was 60% of wages for short-term coverage; the chair said Hartford (the insurer in the packet) had provided a quote shown in meeting materials (packet figure shown as "87,64" in the transcript), but supervisors asked staff to confirm exact annual pricing and enrollment assumptions before final approval.

Board members raised several operational questions: whether the plan would have to include union employees (union inclusion affects the insurer's price), how carryover limits would work (the packet referenced a 40-hour carryover cap plus annual accrual), and whether implementation should be phased or contingent on finalized vendor pricing. One motion that passed at the meeting authorized HR to extend the proposed short- and long-term disability benefits and to move forward with the PTO package as outlined (option two for PTO, option four/Hartford for disability), subject to final cost confirmation and the ability for the board to revisit the decision if quotes change.

"It's going to be more of a benefit for people who don't take sick at all," the chair said when explaining PTO's intent to provide more usable days off per year rather than banking large sick balances. Supervisors emphasized they did not intend to remove protections for employees with serious medical needs; they asked staff to preserve language allowing accrued sick balances to be used for qualifying FMLA absences.