During his budget hearing with the county commissioners on Tuesday, Executive Director Mike Farmer said “forget the freeze,” because hiring more people is a moot point.
“Our No. 1 issue is not that I have enough people to do the job or to deliver the programs, I don’t have space,” he said. “I don’t have space to meet with our clients, we’re swapping offices in between appointments, it’s just a constant circus to manage it.”
While the board is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs — it is an arm of county government — it offers services such as emergency cash, assistance for veterans navigating the Veterans Affairs system, transportation to medical appointments, and help finding local services for everything from legal issues to homelessness and suicide prevention.
The numbers
The board has five part-time, appointed commissioners and 13 staff, Farmer budgeted $4 million for next year. The county commissioners are not permitted to override vet board budgeting decisions — and they haven’t tried — because it is an independent board and the state legislature carved a percentage out of county general funds to help veterans. This year the vet board’s available share is roughly $6.15 million. There are about 19,720 veterans in the county.
Farmer said so far this year the office has done 103 outreach events outside regular hours — their main mission is to let veterans know there is help available through their office — and handled 12,000 appointments. He said they have roughly 60 clients, not including walk-ins, visit their offices daily.
The options
The county commissioners are in the throes of a massive space reutilization project and the Area II Court will be vacating their space in the Historic Courthouse. Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said that might be an option for the vet board.
“The Courthouse Restoration Committee did a little dream list of who would be great partners in the courthouse,” she said. “Someone mentioned the Veterans Service Commission would be a great partner... Did you have a chance to let that percolate.”
Farmer said he toured it and “I don’t think that’s a great fit” mainly because parking is an issue for their aging clients. Staying in the GSC is optimal for a number of reasons including access to advanced technology and the veterans treatment courts.
Carpenter said she is certain they can make some accommodations and she doesn’t want to see them “limping along again next year.”
He said two employees don’t have offices and they are considering a number of options to hold them over until the county completes its space shuffle. This includes converting the conference room into office space and using empty offices within the GSC on other floors, but that’s challenging.
“If they are anywhere other than our office there’s probably not a receptionist to greet them to get them where they need to go,” he said adding he knows it will take time and “the group is a good bunch and we’re in the military so we’re used to ‘embracing the suck’ as we say.”
Affects on vets
Farmer told the Journal-News it can take veterans three to four weeks to get appointments; the lag time means lost monthly monetary benefits for new recipients and their families.
Ideally he said he could use two more staffers to handle the workload that has increased through their outreach efforts, the PACT Act from 2022 that expanded VA health care and benefits and new initiatives like the homeless and suicide prevention programs.
The county commissioners also issued an edict for next year asking everyone to award raises according to their two-plus-two performance plan. It calls for up to 2% added to an employee’s base salary and another 2% in a lump sum.
The vet board approved 6% and Farmer told the Journal-News it is their retention strategy.
“The personnel and wage policy for the commission has always been 6%,” he said. “When we look at the amount of training that we have to put in and the commitment through certifications training for a new employee, we would much rather keep the employees than have this infamous turnover cycle where you’re constantly retraining.”
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