Tallmadge considering hazard pay for city employees working through pandemic

Tallmadge City Council rejected the mayor's vaccine incentive program, but is still open to the city putting some extra cash in employees' pockets for working throughout the pandemic after a few city employees spoke up.

More: Council squashes voluntary vaccine incentive program proposal

In November, Mayor David Kline proposed using $200,000 of the city's anticipated $1.8 million American Rescue Plan funds to give employees one-time cash bonuses for being fully vaccinated.

The program was modeled after Grove City, which saw a 10% increase in vaccinated employees when it was implemented about a year ago, Director of Administration Donald Cooper said. Tallmadge Council members, however, doubted whether their $1,000 incentive would be enough to convince someone to get vaccinated this far into the pandemic.

Several members said they would rather see the money go toward infrastructure improvements, and many reported receiving numerous calls from residents who were opposed to the incentive.

Council was ready to vote it down on Jan. 13, but prior to the vote, they heard from two employees, Tara Ripple and Kelli Funk, who asked them to reconsider.

Ripple, an administrative clerk in vehicle maintenance, advocated for the incentive as hazard pay, saying that the city's healthcare plan already encourages a healthy lifestyle by providing incentives for exercise.

"This incentive could get the remaining people vaccinated, and if not that's their choice that's OK, but the ones that do would benefit from being compensated," she said. "It's in the best interest of our own health and as a workforce as a whole...Please think of the families who continue to show up despite their worries of getting sick."

Funk, an administrative assistant in the planning and zoning department and cemetery department, shared how she returned to work two weeks after the shutdown, despite having an immunocompromised husband and a young child with a heart condition.

City Hall reopened to the public in July. Before testing and vaccines were available, a family came to Funk's office. She then found out that their loved one had just died of COVID and that they were with that person days before.

"I had to go home praying I didn't bring it home," she said.

Funk shared that she did not think an incentive was the best route, but asked Council to consider a cash bonus for working through the pandemic.

"It's a small amount to say thank you for working through the pandemic, for continuing to do your job and for doing your part," she said.

Tallmadge resident and local business owner Todd Jordan also advocated for Council to consider a hazard pay that is not tied to a vaccine incentive; everal council members were receptive to the idea.

They still don't know, however, if that is a permissible usage for ARPA funds, even though spending guidelines were relaxed recently.

"I'm still reviewing the final rules to determine if a citywide employee bonus is something we could do," Tallmadge Finance Director Mollie Gilbride said. "Now there is potential, but when this was presented, that potential did not exist."

Gilbride is planning to meet with Kline, Finance Committee Chair councilman Craig Sisak and department heads in the coming weeks to determine possible uses of the money.

Reporter Krista S. Kano can be reached at 330-541-9416, kkano@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter @KristaKanoABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tallmadge considers using ARP funds for pandemic hazard pay