Council reviews raise options

Jay County Council was presented Wednesday with options for raises for county employees.
Consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates performed a salary analysis and provided projected numbers for longevity pay, a 3 percent increase and increases based on average salaries for similar positions in other counties and cities.
Longevity pay provides employees $100 per year of continuous service. A 20-year cap imposed in 2012 has been lifted. Total longevity pay for all employees would be $117,900.
A 3 percent raise from 2015 salaries would cost $142,948.67.
Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates analyzed government employee salaries in Adams, Blackford, Carroll, Fulton, Grant, Huntington, Randolph, Wabash and Wells counties and the cities of Bluffton, Decatur, Hartford City, Huntington, Portland, Wabash and Winchester to determine an “external midpoint” — the average of the middle 80 percent of those salaries.
They found most Jay County employees make less than equivalent employees elsewhere, with the exception of probation officers. Raising Jay County salaries to match others is the most expensive option, at a total of $320,430.83.
Council could choose various combinations of these options, or none of them. Longevity pay can be combined with a percentage raise or a raise based on comparable other salaries. Raises could be based on the external midpoint without meeting it — for example, salaries could be raised 90 percent of the way to the midpoint to bring county employees slightly below the average.
No action was taken by council Wednesday, with members saying they will think about the information and discuss it at their 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday in the commissioners’ room at the courthouse.