Lexington County considers dropping Confederate Memorial Day, MLK Day, 3 other holidays
Lexington County is considering dropping Confederate Memorial Day, MLK Day and three other holidays to allow county offices to stay open more days out of the year.
In exchange, county employees would be allowed to take an additional five days of paid leave of their choosing, Lexington County spokesman Harrison Cahill said.
The other holidays that could be eliminated are Presidents Day, Veterans Day and the day after Christmas, according to the county’s draft 2020-2021 budget.
At a virtual public hearing on the budget Tuesday, there were no comments for or against the change, Cahill said.
“Council is looking at taking the holidays down from 13 to eight and increasing the amount of annual leave,” to provide more days of service to constituents, Cahill said.
He said the action would be “budget neutral.”
Employees could still take those holidays off, but would be paid straight time for annual leave not holiday time, Cahill said.
The remaining holidays would be Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas, New Year’s Day and Memorial Day.
The budget has already passed on first reading and will have two more votes, likely next month.