County Clerk Jami Page came in on the open-door policy to speak on the occurrence of a death in regard to an approved senior tax credit. It was decided if the survivor meets all requirements and is on the original deed submitted then it stands approved and moves to the survivors name. Jim was going to contact Ivan on if the survivor is on a beneficiary deed and meets all requirements.
Sheriff Chad Anderson came in on his scheduled meeting to discuss the county's travel policy, specifically the per diem and reimbursement system. They recently had one employee’s travel reimbursement request sent back for not providing itemized receipts. Chad stated the change in policy from the per diem request prior to travel to the reimbursement-receipt system after is not efficient or accommodating for employees. Chad brought over several documents on per diem and travel pay. The change was made due to the auditor interpreting that per diem should be taxed as income, yet the IRS states that per diem payments are not taxable if certain requirements are met. Those being location, dates and travel purpose. The previous system allowed employees to receive daily allowance without itemized receipts, which was simpler and more efficient. The current policy requires itemized receipts, leading to issues with non-itemized receipts, lost receipts, time lost in tracking and calculating receipts, and employee dissatisfaction. Chad is requesting reverting back to the previous travel policy. County Clerk Jami was asked to join in the conversation. She stated that the change was made due to the auditors’ recommendations. She has also reached out to several CPA’s on the subject and they referred her back to the IRS publications on accountable and non-accountable plans. Being a per diem type was not accountable and needed to be taxed. The receipt type was accountable and therefore not taxed. She was not willing to speak further on the subject without her lawyer present due to Chad informing her months ago that the Sheriff’s employees had sought legal counsel and were going to sue her on the issue of travel policy. Jim asked for the one employee's reimbursement request. The Commission will look over the information and get back with Chad on the matter.
Frank Sedem and Mark Brady with NextEra came to their scheduled meeting to discuss the use of Chapter 100 as an agreement for tax deferment for the Solar Company and protection for the county. So far, the County has signed a Road Use Agreement and Decommissioning Agreement with NextEra. The next step will be how the taxes will be handled. With statutory tax exemption being considered unconstitutional by the state, the Chapter 100 Agreement with a PILT comes into place. Mark is a leading attorney on these types of Agreements. Mark states, “it creates tax certainty, both for the counties and the local taxing jurisdictions, so that they know the amount of money that'll be coming into that to the county, school district, Fire District, everyone will know what is coming in, all the other taxing jurisdictions every year for the life of the project.” If Solar was treated like other utilities, they would be assessed by the state and then the state distributes the tax money across the service territory to the particular utility. The taxes do not stay local. And the Company will know what their tax liability will be every year. This will ensure tax certainty with escalators to meet rising tax levies every year to be in place. This will be paid annually in December. If you use the formula to $2000.00 for every megawatt, with the current project being 500 megawatts that would mean $1,000,000.00 to the county in December with the most going to the schools. All the Commissioners have been talking to other counties and people about Solar and Chapter 100. John has reached out to New Madrid as NextEra is in the build phase there. Frank has extended a tour of the build. The next thing to do is have town meetings so the public can meet and talk about their concerns on the Solar project and get the information from the company.
The Commission discussed the travel reimbursement for the Sheriff’s employee. They also asked Jami Page on the issue of the per-diem. She shared with them the information she had gathered on the non-accountable and the accountable plan. It was decided to have an Elected Official meeting to discuss the travel policy at a later date.
John made the motion to pay the reimbursement even the non-itemized receipts, excluding the alcohol one. This being a one-time deal. The receipts all need to be itemized for everybody. Trent seconded the motion. All vote yes. Motion carried. No opposition.
Work in progress
Policy Regarding Indigent Cremations given 8/25/2023 updates current
Rattlesnake Hill Roads 11/06/2023 updates current
Policy Regarding Computer, E-Mail, Devices and Social Media given 2/14/2024
Telephone Contracts 3/11/2024 updates current
Opioid Settlement Resolution 10/2/2024 (Judge Highley)
EEZ Board 3/26/2025
