GREENFIELD — The Fortville-Vernon Township Library will shell out $69,000, in part to cover the unused vacation time to its recently-retired director.
The library’s board can cover the cost with money from its savings; but it’ll take away dollars from building improvements the board had planned, a member recently told county leaders.
And it’s prompted board members to review its vacation policies to ensure employees are using the time off they’ve earned.
Longtime Fortville-Vernon Township Library Director Richard Bell announced earlier this year that he’d retire in the summer.
Bell served as the library’s director for some 27 years, library board member Clyde Hall told the Hancock County Council and Board of Commissioners recently during meetings.
Bell hadn’t taken a single vacation day in his long career, the board learned upon his retirement, Hall said.
That means the library owed Bell $69,000 in a lump-sum payout for the unused time off and his remaining salary, Hall said. That amounts to about Bell’s $34,000 in vacation time, Hall said.
Luckily, the library board has the cash on hand; but it’ll take away from a series of building repairs the board has had planned, Hall said.
The board has for months been chipping away at a series of updates to its building to ensure it’s serving the public in the best way, Hall said. These improvements include repaving the parking lot, repairing certain equipment and updating the building’s security, he said.
As the board hunts for a new library director, its members are looking to revise its vacation-time policies and talking with staffers to make sure time off is being used, he said. They’ll look to adopt stricter rules that would require employees to use vacation time within a certain window or capping the number of hours an employee can stash away, he said.
Bell could not be reached for comment on this story.
Hall spoke before the Hancock County Council during its most recent meeting to update its members on the library’s renovations and inform them of Bell’s retirement and the vacation-time payout.
Hancock County Councilman Kent Fisk told Hall it was the board’s responsibility to ensure its employees aren’t banking too much vacation time. Had they been checking in, this situation could have been avoided and what they’ll pay Bell could have gone toward repairs as intended, he said.
“That $69,000 would have gone a long way,” Fisk remarked.