The Guilford County Manager’s Contingency Fund is money allocated to the county manager each year to help him or her pay for unexpected and special matters that weren’t anticipated when the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approves the new fiscal budget each June.

Usually, that means the fund money is used to pay for busted pipe repairs or to recover from a big storm or something like that. However, this year, just in time for Christmas, $4,500 from that fund is going to be used to thank Guilford County Animal Services workers in a unique manner – the county is going to buy new shoes for the animal shelter workers.

It’s part of the county’s “Our People Matter” initiative.  Guilford County, like many public and private entities, is having trouble keeping good employees. So, Guilford County has raised pay across the board and provided a vast number of perks to keep county employees happy in recent months.

In a continuation of that trend, Guilford County Manager Mike Halford is transferring $4,500 from the Manager’s Contingency Fund  to Animal Services’ animal shelter operations.

According to the motion expected to be adopted by the Board of Commissioners this week, the  purpose of this transfer is to provide funding for Animal Services to purchase shoes for the following workers:

  • Animal Care Team members
  • Animal Cleaning Team members
  • Veterinarian Health Team members
  • Animal Control Team members

The motion notes: “Animal Services employees are responsible for the daily care and feeding of the animals within our care. In this fast-paced environment, employees assist in cleaning, feeding and maintaining the animal population. Providing shoes was identified as a way to demonstrate Our People Matter.”