Drafter
Clerk 01/29/2015
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to recruitment of county employees; enhancing the county's competitive position in hiring the most-highly-qualified employees by allowing reimbursement of the moving expenses of additional employees; revising and clarifying the limitations on reimbursement; allowing direct payment of moving expenses instead of reimbursement; making technical corrections; and amending Ordinance 12014, Section 56, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.24.170
...body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Recruiting skilled, experienced and productive employees is of tremendous importance to the county. Reimbursement of moving expenses is sometimes necessary to induce an individual to accept a position with the county, particularly in hard-to-fill areas where the county is competing with private sector employers. There have been instances where the county had to go through multiple recruitment efforts before securing a candidate for a position requiring specialized knowledge, skills and abilities because the county could not offer moving expense reimbursement.
B. While the King County Code currently provides for moving expense reimbursement for some positions, amending the code to expand the categories of positions eligible for reimbursement to include positions requiring specialized knowledge, skills and abilities will further the county's goal of finding the most-highly-qualified job applicants.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 12014, Section 56, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.24.170 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
A. Within the executive branch, including the department of judicial administration, the manager of the human resources management division may authorize in writing, at the written request of the appointing authority, reimbursement ((for)) of reasonable and necessary moving expenses ((to)) for the following categories of county employees:
1. Persons whose appointments require council confirmation and who have been so confirmed((.));
2. Persons appointed by the county administrative officer to exempt positions((.));
3. Persons appointed by the directors of executive departments to exempt positions; and
4. Persons hired for positions requiring specialized knowledge, skill or abilities that the manager of the human resources management division has confirmed in writing are not found in the local labor market. However, this subsection A.4. may be used no more than four times each calendar year.
B. Within the legislative branch, the department of assessments, the department of public safety, the department of elections, the office of the prosecuting attorney, ((and)) district court and superior court((s)), the presiding elected official may authorize, in writing, reimbursement of the reasonable and necessary moving expenses of employees appointed within their agencies.
C. The forecast council may authorize, in writing, reimbursement ((for)) of the reasonable and necessary moving expenses of the chief economist.
D. ((Reimbursement shall be authorized provided that prior to the appointment the appointing authority agreed to the reimbursement of moving expenses as)) Moving expenses may not be reimbursed unless the following conditions are met:
1. The reimbursement is permitted under subsection A., B. or C. of this section;
2. The reimbursement is necessary to obtain the services of ((a particular)) the individual whose moving expenses are being reimbursed;
3. The reimbursement is limited to reasonable and necessary moving expenses, which may include the cost of travel directly to the place of new residence following appointment;
4. The reimbursement to a particular employee does not exceed a total of fifteen thousand dollars;
5. The reimbursement will not create a need for a supplemental appropriation to the department, agency or office in which the individual is employed;
6. Before the appointment the appointing authority and the appointee agreed to the reimbursement in writing;
7. The written reimbursement agreement provides that if the appointee leaves county employment, either voluntarily or involuntarily, less than two years after the appointment, the appointee shall repay to the county, within thirty days after leaving county employment, the entire amount of the reimbursement; and
8. Reimbursement of specific expenses complies with the other limitations contained in this chapter.
E. Moving expenses may not be reimbursed for ((C))confidential secretaries ((, and)) or other exempt clerical positions ((, shall be excluded from the provisions of this section)).
((F. Total reimbursement shall not exceed six thousand dollars and reimbursement for specific expenses shall be subject to the limitations provided for throughout this chapter. Reimbursement will be authorized within the budgetary constraints of the employing department, agency or office.
G. Authorized moving expenses shall be reimbursable from departure until such time as possessions arrive in the county, unless such expenses have been otherwise reimbursed. Costs incurred in travel other than those related to direct travel will be considered nonreimbursable.))
F. To the extent that reimbursement of moving expenses is permitted under this section, the appointing authority may pay the third party provider of moving services directly, rather than by reimbursing the employee, subject to any applicable requirements concerning the county's purchase of goods and services from third parties.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.