County employees respond to commission's plan to cut benefits

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

Note: This updates an article that ran previously on Friday, July 11.

MOUND CITY – The Linn County Commission appeared to be ready for some employee pushback on Friday, July 11, after news that a survey sent out to county employees by County Clerk Danielle Souza the day before was receiving a sharply negative reaction from dozens of the workers and some department heads.

The survey asked employees which benefit they would rather lose during the 2026 fiscal year. The survey noted that the Linn County Board of Commissioners were planning for the 2026 county budget to remain revenue neutral and ask that the employees forego either:

• The HSA (health savings account)

• The preferred insurance vendor, Blue Cross Blue Shield, or

• A raise for the 2026 fiscal year. 

  
  

The employees were given 24 hours to vote on their choice of which benefit they would choose to lose.

The commission met in public session beginning at 1 p.m. to go over budget items with budget consultant Scot Loyd from Galva, Kan. As the commission wrapped up its budget session, Commissioner Alison Hamilton asked if the commission should make a statement.

But County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta suggested that the commission allow public comment first.

“Because you have included public comment on your agenda, you need to go ahead and allow the public to speak,” she said

Bobby Johnson, undersheriff for the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, told commissioners he was speaking not only for the employees under him but for other employees who had expressed concerns about the loss of benefits.

Johnson noted that the commissioners had tough budget choices to make. “You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” he said.

“I represent 50 people that work under me, and those 50 people are scared to death that they’re not going to have good health insurance, their HSA, or a benefit they rightfully deserve because they’re people who keep this place safe,” Johnson said. “And I’m here to tell you that the consensus around the county, because I’ve heard from all sorts of people that I work with and people outside the sheriff’s office, is that there will be people that leave.

“I don’t think it will be a great big mass exodus like people are threatening, but if we lose folks we will go backward because it costs us a lot of time and money training people. And we don’t want to pick the low-hanging fruit. We want the best.

“I kind of pride myself on the standard of law enforcement that we give this community. Whether you agree with it or not, that’s my goal is to provide us a good standard of law enforcement.

“I wish you all the very best, you have a hell of a road in front of you.”

Kevin Amer, a former county employ who was In charge of road signs, also made a brief statement to the commission about his former fellow employees.

“With the system’s benefits and the way that we’ve had them, we’re tied to the whipping post pretty darn good these last few years,” Amer said. “If you want to go ahead and finish it off that way, you’re on the right track.

“They need their raises. They have families. They don’t have big farms. They don’t have big corporate farmer buddies on their telephones telling them what to do.”

The last comment was apparently aimed at Commission Chair Jim Johnson, who was texting during a break in the meeting. Johnson has been adamant about meeting the revenue neutral tax rate for 2026.

A revenue neutral budget is one that does not increase taxes over the previous year. It would mean that Linn County could not levy more taxes than what was levied in 2025.

Over the past several years the county has been able to tap into its windfall revenue from a gas pipeline crossing the county as well as other reserve funds. For the 2025 budget the county was able to tap into revenue from the county jail project, which was completed in 2024.

Early on the jail was able to take on prisoners from Wyandotte County and the U.S. Marshal’s Service to generate income. At times the jail was at nearly 90% capacity and was generating more than $1 million a year.

However, occupancy in the jail has dropped to around 50%, because as Sheriff James Akes and Johnson pointed out in an interview earlier this year, there is just less crime, both locally and in the region.

In response to the survey Souza sent out, several workers posted in the comments that none of the choices was acceptable.

Posted on a public website, some of the responses were deleted, possibly because of language. Other comments weren’t kind toward the commissioners but didn’t included obscenities. At least one person indicated that he would be seeking employment elsewhere.

However, as one employee pointed out, former county clerk David Lamb warned the commission that the county couldn’t sustain a revenue neutral budget indefinitely. Inflation, including rising labor costs, would eventually put the county in a hole that would be difficult to climb out of without a sizable tax increase.

One person responded that the commissioners were ignoring the advice of a consultant who urged the commission to forego revenue neutral for 2026.

Another employee complained that the county’s wage and benefit package had only come close to being competitive a year ago following a three-year stretch of no raises.

The location of the survey’s open website was leaked to the Journal, however, the editorial staff’s decision was to withhold employee names because they might have falsely assumed that the website was secure.

One department head said that her department lost two good workers recently because the county’s wages were not competitive.

In responding to criticism over the plan to cut benefits, Commissioner Hamilton gave a prepared statement.

“I want to say for all commissioners that, in facing financial realities, the county sought input from employees, not to target benefits but to ensure than any decisions made reflect the insight of those who serve this community every day, not just department heads,” she said. “We recognize that the question caused concern and we want to be clear. Your voices were heard and your honesty has helped us to make a informed, careful decisions.

“To our residents, we want you to know that before proposing any increases in taxes, we look forward, or, we look hard at every area of spending including internally. While a modest tax increase is necessary to maintain essential services, we are also making tough cuts now to avoid deeper impacts or further increases in the future.

“This has not been easy, but we are on a responsible path forward. We are committed to stewarding your trust and your tax dollars with care and transparency.”