Some Pulaski County government offices are finding themselves short-staffed, and that’s putting a strain on their budgets for part-time help. This week, the county council approved budget transfer requests from both the Assessor’s Office and the EMS Department.
EMS Director Nikki Lowry explained that one of her employees has been off on workers’ comp. “I need to transfer money because our part-time budget is now in the red, because we’ve been using part-time people in her position,” Lowry said. “Her wages come out of the LOIT, not out of my budget. So it drained my budget, and that money was sitting in the LOIT.” She didn’t know whether money could legally be moved from the LOIT fund into the EMS Department’s part-time budget, so council members voted to approve the transfer, as long as it’s allowed.
Meanwhile, County Commissioner Kenny Becker explained that the Assessor’s Office has been using more part-time help, after one employee was let go and another was set to have surgery. To cover the cost, council members approved the transfer of $6,500 into the part-time help budget from four other line items, following a favorable recommendation from the commissioners.
