Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass has vetoed one of the Quorum Court’s decisions three days after its last regular session. The judge informed the court Friday he is vetoing their unanimous agreement to withhold payment to 14 county employees.
Judge Pendergrass told the court Tuesday an inadvertent error was made in the 2016 personal services budget resulting in 14 salaried employees being overpaid due to eight extra hours occuring in the leap year 2016, and as a result, the court unanimously decided to split the overpayment in half and hold it back from each affected employee over the first two pay periods of the year. In his veto letter, the judge says new information has surfaced, and he’s not convinced the correct numbers were used by the 2016 legislative audit. According to the Personnel Policy, an employee’s salary is to be paid in 26 equal payments, and as long as the amounts were paid correctly, the employees were paid correctly up to week 52 of the previous year. Judge Pendergrass said he vetoed the court’s decision because that determination has not yet been made.
The judge also said in his letter Baxter County is continuing to work on a final solution to correct the issue. In the meantime, the Quorum Court has the power to override the veto with a three-fifths majority at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
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