Bonuses 'permissible,' Hughes' attorney writes

Okaloosa County Tax Collector Chris Hughes asserted Friday that $692,000 in employee bonuses he has awarded over the last three years are legal and legitimate.

"I gave a lot of money but I saved a lot of money for the county," Hughes said.

He said he was eager to put any notion of impropriety behind and had an attorney send a letter to Okaloosa County officials asserting his right to provide bonuses.

"Discretionary bonuses are permissible under federal and Florida laws," states the letter, sent from Michael Grogan of the law firm of Allen, Norton & Blue.

Hughes has been under fire since Wednesday, when the number and size of bonuses he provided became public.

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Five employees in Hughes' office have received bonuses of at least $15,000 in each of the last three fiscal years. One of them received a total of $52,500 in discretionary pay over that time.

Most of the other constitutional officers in the county provide employee bonuses, but they have been significantly smaller than Hughes' awards.

Hughes defended the bonuses by saying they inspire employees to work harder. They are "solely determined by the productivity and efficiency of the office," he said.

The bonuses come out of Hughes' personnel service budget and are "based on the availability of unused budgeted personnel funds and on superior accomplishments," Hughes said.

He said Friday he did not draw up specific goals for employees to meet to obtain bonuses or guidelines for how bonuses could be earned.

Grogan's letter states that in 1992 the Florida Legislature amended state law "to authorize counties and municipalities to adopt extra compensation programs to reward outstanding employees."

The letter quotes a Florida statute that states compensation given would be "pursuant to policies adopted by county or municipal ordinances or resolutions of governing boards of special districts."

Grogan said a county tax collector and other constitutional officers can develop their own policies to award bonuses.

"Each constitutional officer is a separate entity and can adopt their own personnel policies and procedures," he said.

Grogan's opinion appears to contradict the one used by the Florida Department of Revenue, which reviews Hughes' budget every year.

Department spokeswoman Renee Watters cited agency policy and an Attorney's General opinion when she said that state budget reviewers would only accept bonuses as budget items after a county adopts formal guidelines for providing them.

Watters said Hughes has never indicated in budget documents that he intended to provide employee bonuses.

State revenue officials told County Administrator Jim Curry on Thursday that if a bonus provision had appeared in Hughes budgets, it would have been denied.

Curry, whose office began investigating Hughes' bonuses, acknowledged receiving Grogan's letter. He said he turned over to County Attorney John Dowd.

"I'm going to reserve comment until I have time to look at the letter and consult with our attorney," he said.