County Administrator Terry Johnson retiring — sort of

New Albany, MS- Terry Johnson, county administrator for Union County since 1999, will retire at the end of this month, June 2016. However, he will continue to handle much of the same duties for Union County.

Here’s the deal: Johnson has served as an employee of the State of Mississippi for 33 years. He served 16-1/2 years as an auditor with the state auditor’s office, having served under five elected state auditors. He then left the auditor’s office and came to work for Union County, a political subdivision of the State of Mississippi, 16-1/2 years ago. His total time in state service makes him eligible for regular retirement.

The Union County Board of Supervisors has asked Johnson to continue performing the  county management work as a less-than-fulltime employee, with much of the clerical work he has also been performing for several years being delegated to other county employees.

State rules require that he cease working for the county for a period of ninety days but may then return to work on a part-time basis.

Long-time county employees Kay Wicker, Donna Treadaway and Shellie Kent will take on many of the purely clerical duties Johnson has been performing, and Johnson will return to his management work as a part-time county worker October 1, 2016.

Union County taxpayers will save several tens of thousands of dollars each year under the new arrangement

“Kay Wicker knows the work well and will be taking on some duties Terry has been doing,” said Union County board president Randy Owen. “Shellie Kent will be performing some additional work, and Donna Treadaway will take on the inventory clerk work that Terry has been doing.”

Under Senate Bill 2362 passed recently, the legislature and governor have taken away from Union County a minimum of $150,000 annually in funding. The savings that will result from this retirement and personnel changes may help cover some of the short fall.

“It’s good for Terry, good for the county and the job will still get done as it has been in the past,” said Owen. “The taxpayers will save a good deal of money.”

Johnson earned a degree in accountancy from the University of Mississippi. He and his wife have two adult children.