During Monday’s meeting of the Independence County Quorum Court, justices passed an ordinance to set up the process of paying law enforcement officers a one-time $5,000 stipend.
The money stems from the federal government’s pandemic recovery package that each state received. Gov. Asa Hutchinson presented the idea of a one-time payment to law enforcement officers throughout the state to lawmakers, and the legislature approved.
Being paid as a stipend means it does not count as wages earned, so no social security or medicare taxes get withheld. However, a stipend does count as taxable income at the end of the year.
County Judge Robert Griffin told White River Now’s Gary Bridgman that the county will pay the FICA and retirement match, which averages about $750 per person. Griffin says there is the expectation that the money to fund the stipends will soon be arriving from the state. He said the ordinance prepares the county to quickly put the money in the hands of the officers.
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