Horry County Council discussed how to possibly reduce the nearly $40 million of taxpayer money going towards benefits, overtime, and time off for Horry County employees.
In some cases, county employees can earn nearly three months of paid time off.
As a starting Horry County employee 5 weeks of paid time off, including holidays, is available.
If an employee stays with the county for 20 years, they receive including holidays 11 weeks of paid time off.
Several Horry County council members questioned County Administrator Chris Eldridge on how the county got into this position.
According to county reports, as of March 5, 2015 county workers have nearly 700,000 hours of accrued paid time off valued at $14 million dollars.
County officials say a lot of the problems comes down to employees abusing sick time.
Which council members say can easily be fixed.
“We’re a right of work state. Surely we can weed out bad employees,” said Horry County Council Member Jody Prince.
The problem is how any change to benefits or time off will affect all employees.
“Don’t punish the good people you’re going to lose them,” said Tom Fox.
Fox is the Director of Detention at J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
He was the only county employee who spoke during the public input.
Fox told council it was the benefits package that brought him to work for the county.
Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said council does not plan to make a brash decision.
However, there were no real suggestions on what can be done to fix the problem.
The topic will again be discussed at the end of the month during the county’s budget retreat.
