West Virginia Spends Millions on Unfilled State Jobs, Report Finds

The Submit Audits Subcommittee of the Legislature obtained a report Sunday from the Legislature’s Efficiency Analysis and Analysis Division on job vacancies in state authorities. Sunday was the primary day of September legislative interim conferences.

In keeping with the report, greater than $226 million was appropriated within the fiscal yr 2022 govt finances in salaries and advantages for 4,857 vacant positions funded by each state tax {dollars} and different sources of state and federal funding.

“Every year, a number of thousands and thousands of {dollars} are appropriated for budgeted vacant positions, a lot of which have been vacant for a number of years with no proof that companies try to fill them,” mentioned Lukas Griffith, senior analyst for PERD.

Greater than half of these positions, 2,289 vacancies, had been straight funded from the overall income finances that receives funding from a number of tax income sources, together with private revenue taxes, the patron gross sales and use tax and severance taxes on coal and pure gasoline. The state departments and companies obtained a mixed $101.5 million for these 2,289 vacant positions, representing greater than 5% of all budgeted positions.

photograph by: Picture courtesy of WV Legislative Images

Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, asks questions on a report displaying thousands and thousands of {dollars} are sitting in state company coffers for vacant positions which have gone unfilled for years.

Auditors discovered 291 present state job vacancies paid for by way of common income fund appropriations have sat vacant between 2014 to 2018, but these companies proceed to obtain greater than $13 million for these vacant positions that go unspent. There are 494 vacancies for 2014-2018 for your complete govt finances, costing taxpayers $22.9 million.

“When you think about that many of those vacancies for 2019 by way of 2021 will finally stay vacant for years to come back, the general budgetary implications for the state common (income) fund and budgeted vacancies are a lot greater than $13.4 million,” Griffith mentioned.

A lot of the vacancies are between 2019 and 2021, with 4,363 budgeted vacancies representing 90% of complete budgeted vacancies at a value of $204 million. The report additionally discovered that usually, state departments and companies weren’t transferring these unspent funds.

“Wow,” mentioned Home Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay. “In 4 years of sitting on this committee that needs to be one of the crucial informative experiences I’ve ever obtained.”

The companies with essentially the most vacant positions are the Division of Well being within the Division of Well being and Human Assets and the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, each with greater than 800 vacancies every. Each companies are recognized for having excessive turnover and emptiness numbers with Gov. Jim Justice declaring a state of emergency final month for state prisons and jails, utilizing the West Virginia Nationwide Guard to assist with staffing.

“All of us are properly conscious of the issues we now have with the nursing properties, the jails and prisons, and the social work-side,” mentioned Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh. “We’re actually sending the Nationwide Guard to prisons proper now. We might instantly shift that cash towards these high-demand high-need positions if we might dig into that and probably with the opposite 4,300 vacancies do the identical.”

Auditors additionally discovered greater than 300 full-time jobs inside state companies that will qualify for public help primarily based on wage. There are 383 full-time state worker positions that earn lower than $23,000, qualifying them for Supplemental Diet Help Program advantages. A lot of these 383 jobs are inside the Division of Well being, together with housekeepers, cooks and different service staff.

However Michael Cook dinner, director of the State Funds Workplace, needed lawmakers towards instantly sweeping the budgets of departments and companies

“There are cases the place I imagine there are vacancies that may very well be eradicated and that cash be higher used to help the company finances, however in lots of cases the finances invoice supplies permissive language that enables these companies to switch these funds that the Legislature has appropriated for private providers and worker advantages,” Cook dinner mentioned. “That was one of many foremost issues I had once I learn the report. I didn’t need it to have the looks that there have been simply thousands and thousands of thousands and thousands of {dollars} that may very well be swept in financial savings.”

However because the auditors identified, there are only a few cases the place state departments and companies carry out intra-departmental private providers transfers. The Division of Well being didn’t carry out intra-departmental transfers in 2020 and 2021 and the Division of Human Providers, the Division of Highways, the Division of Rehabilitation Providers and West Virginia State Universities carried out no transfers between 2018 and 2021.

“Technically, they’re saying they want it for vacancies, however in actuality no, they want it for additional time,” mentioned PERD Director John Sylvia. “That is what we now have seen these companies are doing.”

“To not put phrases in anybody’s mouths, Mr. Sylvia, however in different phrases you’re telling us that the finances course of as we all know it simply doesn’t mirror actuality.” Hanshaw requested.

“No, it doesn’t,” Sylvia mentioned.