BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard County Clerk of Court's decision to outsource workers to save money won't save as much as he thought after county commissioners decided to force the clerk to hand over nearly $200,000 for pulling employees out of the county insurance pool.
Brevard County Clerk Mitch Needelman may have thought he was saving his office hundreds of thousands of dollars by laying off 125 workers and then hiring them back through a staffing company, but county staff say he broke an inter-local agreement by pulling those people out of a county health insurance pool.
"We believe the clerk has engaged in activities that adversely affect the operation of the program," said Frank Abate, Brevard County Human Resources.
County commissioners questioned whether Needelman's office was really in the financial trouble he claimed considering a surplus left by his predecessor.
"I just don't see the $2 million deficit that you referenced," Brevard County Commissioner Trudie Infantini said.
Then, for the first time since outsourcing half the clerk's office, the public weighed in.
"It's wrong. It's wrong to take 123 people from this county and outsource them to the other side to Orlando because, where is your guarantee they will not outsource. Mr. Needelman, shame on you. Shame on you," Brevard County resident Mort Rothstein said.
Needelman told WFTV he couldn't discuss his decision to use a staffing company, because 39 former employees are now suing his office.
"There was still a savings for taxpayers of over $700,000," Needelman said.
Needelman said he would agree to pay back a portion of what his office owed into the county's insurance pool for now, but said he disagreed with the county's numbers.
The workers who got laid off and then rehired by the staffing company don't get any of the health care or retirement benefits they did when they were employed directly by the Clerk's Office.
WFTV
