While the Uintah County Commission has not announced any decision in response to the Legislative Hearing held on March 31st, Evans Family Media has acquired some points of clarification after receiving documents through GRAMA request. The purpose of the Legislative Hearing was for the Commission to gather testimony and information concerning a Notice of Claim submitted by Sheriff Steve Labrum that alleges that Public Safety employees of Uintah County were intentionally denied retirement contributions without justification or explanation. The point of disagreement between the Commissioners and Clerk/Auditor Mike Wilkins is who has been making the decisions regarding the optional 401K contributions in the county budget. Wilkins emphasizes that the budget is approved by the Commission and the optional 401K is in the budget. He states, “Policy requires that each year, the County Commissioners determine a percentage that it will contribute to each employee account.” The Commissioners allege that payments made to the retirement system optional 401K prior to July 2017 were authorized by the Commission but decisions about payments made from July 2017 through June 2021 were made by Wilkins and without Commission knowledge or approval. Commissioners allege that requests for financial information regarding benefits were not responded to by Clerk/Auditor Wilkins during that time. In response to the dispute, the Uintah County Attorney requested that the Weber County Attorney’s Office investigate whether the Uintah County Clerk/Auditor ordered payments or warrants without authorization, among other things. While the Weber County Attorney did not choose to pursue or recommend legal action based on his investigation, it was stated in the findings that “starting with rates effective July 2017, the URS retirement rates were approved directly by the Clerk Auditor without formal approval by the County Commissioners.” It is not clear yet what conclusion will be reached by the Commission based on the Legislative Hearing, though Commissioner Bill Stringer did share with Evans Family Media that what’s next is “to determine what legal steps need to be taken.” In the end, it is a question of whether or not Uintah County is liable for 401K contributions that were not offered to Sheriff’s Department employees. The 4 year period from July 2017 to June 2021 would leave Uintah County liable for approximately $1.5 million dollars of unpaid retirement contributions.
