Personnel policies due for update (05/15/08)

Jay County's policies and procedures regarding its employees are due for an update. And while that process won't happen overnight, members of the Jay County Council agreed Wednesday at least to take the first step.

The council, which heard a presentation from the county's contract consultant on personnel matters, agreed to pare down the county's personnel policy committee.

The first meeting of that committee, which will now include two council members, a county commissioner and the county auditor, will be held Monday, June 9 at 3 p.m.

Kent Irwin, from Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates, outlined several proposed areas of revision and updates in a 30-minute presentation to the council.

The proposed changes are all traced back to protecting the county from liability in connection with three federal labor laws:

•Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

•Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

•Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Other services that Muncie-based Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates can provide on an as-needed basis include a review of job classification and compensation systems; a self-audit of areas subject to the FLSA; and guidance on other personnel matters related to the law.

The county's personnel policy committee has traditionally also included an elected official who is not a commissioner or councilman and a non-elected county employee. The committee was pared down at Irwin's suggestion.

He said that input from department heads, elected officials and employees would be welcomed through members of the new committee.

Committee members will now include council members Marilyn Coleman and Gerald Kirby; Commissioners' president Milo Miller Jr.; and county auditor Nancy Culy.

Irwin said that an action this week by the U.S. Congress could have a big impact on employee relations in Indiana and other states, as a bill authorizing collective bargaining power for all local government employees in the U.S. was passed.

President George W. Bush has threatened a veto of the measure, and it is unclear whether the votes are present in the Congress to override that veto.

Also Wednesday, council members Judy LeMaster, Mike Leonhard, Fred Bailey, Jim Zimmerman, George Meehan, Kirby and Coleman gave approval to shifting a significant chunk of economic development income tax (EDIT) funds back to control of the county's six incorporated cities and towns.

Since the inception of EDIT in the 1990s, the county has received semi-annual payments of funds back from the state. The county has held onto those funds and dispersed them to Portland, Dunkirk, Pennville, Bryant, Redkey and Salamonia only when a request was made.

At the request of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, the funds will be allocated to each of the cities and towns as they are received from the state.

An additional appropriation from EDIT funds of $854,124 was approved by the council Wednesday - an amount equal to the share held in reserve for the incorporated areas.

Jay County also allocates an equal portion of its share of EDIT funds to each of those cities and towns. That amount currently is about $36,000 annually. Those funds will not be affected by the change.

In other business, council members:

•Approved additional funds of $2,583.20 from the Operation Pullover fund to pay overtime for deputies; and $2,940 from a 911 dispatch line item to pay salary for an employee who switched jobs within the department.

•Allowed transfers in the following departments: Courthouse - $3,000 from supervisor to part-time custodian; and Auditor - $200 from records to travel.

•Approved an annual property tax abatement compliance form for Red Gold Inc.

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