Truck drivers will get raises

County highway department truck drivers and surveyor department heavy equipment operators will get a raise next year. Two retirement center employees won’t.

That’s the decision Jay County Council made Wednesday, approving recommendations made late last month by Jay County Personnel Committee.

The approved recommendations lift truck drivers and heavy equipment operators into a higher job classification and will increase their wages to $15.68 per hour. They currently make $13.59 per hour.

The two retirement center employees — a cook/housekeeper supervisor and maintenance worker — will stay in their current classification and will not receive a salary bump.

In September, council approved the employees, who shared the same classification, for a 4-percent wage increase in 2017. However, that decision was reviewed by the personnel committee after retirement center assistant director Tammy Davis voiced concerns.

The personnel committee initially decided for the retirement center, surveyor’s office and highway department heads to review job descriptions with a consultant from Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates, the consulting firm that developed the county’s classification system.

Based on those meetings, the firm recommended the truck drivers and heavy equipment operators jump up a class, bumping up their wages, while retirement center employees remain in their current classification. The personnel committee and county council decided to follow the firm’s plan.