Committee offers recommendations

Issues surrounding Jay County Council’s decision to award a pay raise to a classification of county employees are closer to being resolved.

Jay County Personnel Committee made recommendations Monday that would lift the majority of those employees into a higher classification and rescind the wage hike for two retirement center employees who would remain in their current classification.

In September, Jay County Council approved a 4-percent salary bump to highway department truck drivers as well as to four surveyor’s office heavy equipment operators and two retirement center employees who share the same classification.

That decision came under scrutiny later that month when retirement center assistant director Tammy Davis issued concerns with council’s decision, prompting the personnel committee to convene.

The committee decided in September to have department heads from the retirement center, highway department and surveyor’s office reevaluate job descriptions with Addie Rooker, a senior consultant with consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates.

On Monday, the committee made a recommendation to adopt revisions submitted by the firm, which developed the county’s pay plan.

The changes call for moving highway department truck drivers from their current classification of labor trades and crafts B to labor trades and crafts C. The change would create two levels for the position of “truck driver/equipment operator.”

“There’s a distinction between Level I and Level II for the highway (department) which doesn’t currently exist,” auditor Anna Culy said of the consulting firm’s recommendations.

The truck drivers would be considered Level II and make $15.68 per hour in the higher classification. Truck drivers, and other employees in the “B” classification, currently make $13.59 per hour.

Highway superintendent Ken Wellman seemed pleased with the recommendation and it said would help with retaining truck drivers and hiring new ones.

The highway department heavy equipment operators, currently in the “C” classification, would be considered Level I and make 49 cents more per hour — approximately $1,000 annually — per the committee’s recommendation.  

Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates recommended a $1,000 minimum difference in salary between Level I and II.

Under the recommendations, the four surveyor’s office heavy equipment operators currently classified the same as truck drivers would also move into the higher classification and earn $15.68 per hour.

Level I heavy equipment operators, currently already in the “C” class, would make 49 cents more per hour.

Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates recommended the two retirement center employees, a maintenance worker and cook/housekeeper supervisor, approved for raises remain in their current class.

They will be the only employees remaining in the classification. The committee recommended that county council rescind those raises.

“I would say based upon the fact that that 4 percent was driven by getting the truck drivers a raise and the other people that were in there were just in there,” said Inman.

“I agree with you, Doug. We did it for a certain purpose, that we had some that was totally underpaid for what they did and it was trying to fix that,” said Theurer.

County council’s next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 14.