Wichita County Commission Court heard a status report on salaries and overtime and debated whether certain reimbursements should be included on employees' W-2s and in gross pay for tax and retirement reporting.

County payroll staff (Matt) told the court that seven employees started this week and that the county had 13 open positions as of that morning. He said new hires would be in training for several weeks before being counted as fully on the floor.

The court discussed higher overtime hours that appeared tied to recent fire response days. A county official said the overtime hours "are up a little bit from the last peak period" and that the extra hours likely stemmed from fire-related shifts.

A notable point of debate centered on reimbursements and how they appear on employee W-2s and retirement reporting. One county official warned that reimbursements added to gross pay meant employees might "be paying taxes on it again," describing the practice as unfair. A finance staff member said reimbursements "do not add into your gross, and they're not reported as income, and they are not your w 2 because they are a employee related expense." The court asked staff to check Munis (the county financial system) configuration and to send clarifying emails to employees about how reimbursable expenses are handled.

The court also discussed classifying certain equipment operators and foremen as nonexempt for overtime. A staff member asked for updated payroll forms to mark those employees "non exempt," and the court directed Debbie to prepare one form for each foreman so departments can process the classification.

No formal pay policy changes were adopted at the meeting; the court directed staff to verify payroll setup, return clarification by email, and bring the matter back to a future agenda if needed.