Robbinsville – After months of discussion, local nurses and front-line workers are receiving their just reward.
The Graham County Board of Commissioners called a special meeting Aug. 26, holding a nearly 40-minute discussion about exactly how to disperse American Rescue Plan Act funds to emergency personnel and nurses, who have risked their own safety in order to continue providing services throughout the COVID-19pandemic.
In the end, the board unanimously approved a measure to give each full-time Graham County EMS employee a bonus of up to $25,000. Each stipend will be calculated based off a rate of up to an additional $13 per hour – which is on top of a particular employee’s existing pay rate – and dispersed in either one lump sum or as quarterly payments. The option for how to receive payment is being left up to each individual employee, as the payments are taxed at 22 percent. County financial officer Becky Garland suggested each employee discuss their best option with a financial planner before deciding how to receive the payment.
“At this point, it’s going to be treated as taxable income,” Garland said.
County Manager Jason Marino added that federal guidelines for the act are not anticipated to be finalized until October.
Commissioner Dale Wiggins polled the rest of the board on their consensus about the maximum payout in a hypothetical pitch, asking each commissioner to base their decision as if the final guidance had been received.
“I’d be for it,” acting Commission Chairman Keith Eller answered. “If anybody deserves it, it’s our EMS. The EMS staff and the nurses that have done testing and given shots, I’m thinking that’s our main front line.”
“My opinion is, those who have to face it every day – and have to look in the face of those who have had it – need to get as much as they possibly can,” Commissioner Jacob Nelms echoed. “I think that we can – with high confidence – take care of the nurses and EMS now.”
Other county departments – such as the jail, sheriff’s office and transit – will be revisited in October, as a lot of grey area remains about qualifications for the premium payouts.
“We know that certain departments – like our paramedics – are on the front line. That’s a no-brainer,” Garland said, recounting questions posed to the N.C. School of Government during a recent webinar. “We know some of our public-safety folks have been right at the front of patient care. The typical response we got was, ‘It depends.’”
Graham County EMS Director Larry Hembree – who attended the meeting, along with roughly seven other employees of the division – thanked the board for passing the measure soon after the vote was approved. Hembree said that EMS has 13 full-time and five part-time employees. Part-time workers will be paid based off a prorate of hours worked.
“This will really help morale at EMS,” Hembree said.
Both Garland and county clerk Kim Crisp indicated that around five local nurses would be classified as “essential,” and therefore be eligible for the payment.
Surrounding counties like Cherokee and Swain have differed on rewarding its front-line workers, with Swain opting to give $1,500 to each employee, based off hours worked between March 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021. Swain will revisit the payouts when the final guidance is received next month.
Meanwhile, Garland said after speaking with Cherokee County Manager Randy Wiggins, no action has been taken to disburse payments for front-line workers in the westernmost segment of the state.