Elected officials on Wednesday came to a consensus that should any employee bonuses for fiscal year 2020 be awarded, they must first be authorized by county commissioners.

In September, concerns were raised when last-minute bonuses totaling more than $32,000 were given to employees overseen by County Clerk Jim Brannon.

The funds to pay for those bonuses came from “salary salvage,” which is money generated from budgeted positions that are vacant. During the time the position is unfilled, salary salvage is generated.

Several elected officials, including Brannon, used salary salvage funds to reward existing staff who worked to maintain service levels despite vacancies in their respective departments.

Commissioners objected, saying a legal opinion issued to a previous board stated all compensation and wages, including bonuses, must be authorized by commissioners.

While agreeing to acquire commissioner approval for bonuses moving forward, elected officials on Wednesday emphasized the importance of having the opportunity to provide the incentive pay.

“If I’m short-staffed I like to recognize people who step up and go the extra mile,” said Sheriff Ben Wolfinger. “I get it, we need to come before the board (of commissioners), but we need to keep the (salary salvage) option open.”

Commissioner Chris Fillios said he would like to see salary salvage monies put back into the general fund. But he agreed that bonuses are sometimes justified as long as they’re approved by commissioners.

“We need to see (requests) first,” Fillios said. “I don’t want to see a repeat of what we just went through.”