Glenn Southard / The Desert Sun file
Vacation payout
Indio City Manager Glenn Southard is allowed to cash out a maximum of 120 hours of vacation a year. His pay rate in 2005 started at $120 an hour and has gradually increased to $148.74. In 2008, he “in error” was allowed to cash out an additional 40 hours.
2005: 80 hours totaling $9,600
2006: 120 hours totaling $15,097.31
2007: 120 hours totaling $15,097.31
2008: 160 hours totaling $23,271.84
2009: 120 hours totaling: $17,848.56
Total: 600 hours totaling: $80,915.02
A closed session today
The Indio City Council will meet at 9 a.m. today at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Mall, for a special closed- session meeting to discuss the retirement of City Manager Glenn Southard and his replacement come April 1.
Information: (760) 391-4000.
More
Indio City Manager Glenn Southard has cashed out more than $80,000 in vacation pay — part of it in violation of his contract — since he was hired in 2005.
City officials on Tuesday, however, said Southard will not be asked to repay the extra money.
The payout of an extra 40 hours in 2008 totaling $5,949.52 was “in error” and never corrected. The thought was that, per state law, Southard would receive money for all unused vacation time whenever he retired or resigned anyway, said Assistant City Manager Tara Adams.
City Council members, who are expected to meet in special closed session this morning to discuss how to replace Southard when he retires April 1, said they only recently learned of the extra vacation cash-out.
Councilman Glenn Miller said he was under the impression the matter would be resolved.
“We obviously have some issues with Glenn (Southard) getting ready to retire,” he said Tuesday. “If there's something (wrong), they'll rectify it.”
What Miller hadn't heard, he said, was that the payout was an error.
“People do make mistakes we've had a lot of turnover in human resources. It's very possible that someone made an error,” he said.
Mayor Gene Gilbert could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but in a previous interview with The Desert Sun, he said he was aware of the extra payout as well and had discussed it with legal counsel.
“I talked to legal staff; (they said) it's a gray area,” he said earlier this month.
Southard, per his contract, is allowed to cash out 120 hours a year in vacation time.
He requested two different cash-outs in 2008: one in January for 120 hours and later in December for 40 hours.
Adams said Southard must have forgotten or not realized he had already requested the maximum of 120 hours.
Southard did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
“In this case, both HR and payroll signed off on it and erroneously provided an additional 40 hours of buyback,” Adams said.
As of earlier this month, Southard had accrued about 528 hours of vacation time and 1,118.5 hours of sick time, though he is only eligible to cash out half of his available sick time when he leaves.
When he retires, he will be paid nearly $162,000 for 136 days of accrued vacation and sick leave.
His vacation and sick time pay is in addition to a two-year boost in his pension plan per an early retirement incentive being offered to employees to help shave costs next fiscal year.
If there are no retirements or cuts made next fiscal year, which begins July 1, the city faces a $13.5 million deficit.
However, Michael Busch, a consultant hired to “right-size” City Hall, expects a savings of at least $3.5 million from early retirements and frozen positions, which puts the deficit closer to $10 million.
With Southard's last day nearing, Councilman Ben Godfrey said he would like to see the position filled immediately.
More details on how that might happen may be available after the closed-session meeting today, he said.
“My view is that we should not waste any time,” Godfrey said. “I think it's in the city's best interest to quickly fill the position of city manager.”
