Will commissioners take a pay cut?

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Jay County Commissioners will be cutting their regular meeting dates in half.

Now the question is whether they will take a pay cut as well.

The issue was raised Wednesday night, with Jay County Council members agreeing that it’s worth looking at.

Council also approved funds for the purchase of a new vehicle for Jay County Sheriff’s Office and to help with the renovation of the grandstand at Jay County Fairgrounds.

Jay County Recorder Betty St. Myers asked the question about commissioners pay Wednesday, two days after the commissioners voted 2-1 to reduce their regular meetings from four times a month to two.

They currently meet at 9 a.m. every Monday, unless it is the fifth Monday of the month. Their new schedule, beginning in May, will be to meet at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.

“I noticed that the commissioners are going to take a reduction in their hours,” said St. Myers. “I do know that there was a reduction in pay for both the council and the commissioners, which I thought was very generous last year …

“My question is … for taking a reduction (in hours) is (their pay) going to be adjusted.”

Council members Jeanne Houchins, Faron Parr, Cindy Newton, Ted Champ, Gary Theurer, Bob Vance and Mike Rockwell agreed it’s something that needs to be considered.

“It’s a good question,” said Newton.

“It needs looked at,” agreed Houchins.

Jay County Commissioners currently are paid $20,600 annually. That’s down from $26,670.86 in 2016 as both commissioners and council agreed to take a 25 percent pay cut this year.

Pay rates for commissioners in adjacent counties in 2016 were as follows: Adams - $25,541.51; Blackford - $15,869.35; Delaware - $31,733; Randolph - $19,286.88; and Wells - $21,943. All of those meet twice a month with the exception of Adams County, which holds weekly commissioners meetings.

Commissioners pay for counties in Jay’s population bracket — 20,000 to 25,000 — ranges from a low of $13,516.05 (Fayette) to a high of $21,365 (Spencer).

Voting in favor of the switch to the two-meetings-per-month format Monday, commissioners Doug Inman and Chuck Huffman said they just don’t see the need for a weekly meeting. The group is typically done with meetings well before noon. Commissioner Mike Leonhard argued that the weekly format should continue, noting that he often visits county departments after the group adjourns.

Theurer, a former commissioner, pointed out Wednesday that commissioners at one time were in session in public meetings for about 20 hours per month. Under the new system, that will be reduced to about six hours.

“I’m not taking away from them, I know they’re in other meetings,” said Champ, acknowledging other commissioners duties outside of regular meetings. “But they’re in other meetings now. They didn’t pick up other meetings because they dropped these two off.”

Council members said they will look into the details of commissioners salaries compared to other counties and discuss the issue further.

Also Monday, council approved a pair of $20,000 expenditures for the purchase of a new police vehicle and to help pay for the renovation of the grandstand at Jay County Fairgrounds.

Sheriff Dwane Ford asked council for the $20,000 to purchase a new Ford Explorer for his department to replace one that was damaged in a traffic accident.

Newton questioned the purchase, pointing out that the sheriff’s office has already purchased two new vehicles this year. She also asked if it is necessary to buy SUVs as opposed to cars.

Ford responded that the other two vehicles purchased this year were accounted for in the sheriff’s office’s 2017 budget. He said there would not have been a need for a third vehicle if not for the accident. (The sheriff’s office got $8,000 from insurance on the damaged vehicle.) He added that the SUVs provide more room for officers, who wear a lot of equipment, and for the in-vehicle computers.

Several council members said they saw the merit in having the larger vehicle as the group voted 6-1 in favor of the purchase with Newton dissenting.

The other $20,000 expenditure sailed through easily, with county council backing the commissioners’ April 4 decision to give $20,000 in infrastructure funds to the effort to renovate the grandstand at Jay County Fairgrounds. The project is expected to cost about $325,000.

The fair board has already started raising funds and has received a $160,000 matching grant from The Portland Foundation.

Champ noted the importance of the fairgrounds and the amount of people it brings in each year to events like the Jay County Fair, Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show and Vintage Motorbike Show.

In other business, council:

•Approved $171,993.05 in additional appropriations. Of that total, only $10,000 involved new expenditures, with that money going toward inspections by county surveyor Brad Daniels and engineer Dan Watson for the Bluff Point Wind Energy Center project. NextEra Energy Resources has already reimbursed the county for those services. The other additional appropriations were for items that already had funds set aside from previous years and for the implementation of the Upper Salamonie Watershed Management Plan, which is being funded via a grant.

•Transferred $53,575 to the e-911 equipment loan line item from the e-911 dispatching upgrade line item in the infrastructure fund, and $1,678.35 to the treasurer’s office supplies line item from the second deputy line item for the purchase of a new printer.

•Set the first budget committee meeting of the year for 5 p.m. May 10. It will include financial consultant Greg Guerrettaz, who worked extensively with the county during the budget process last year. Council’s regular meeting will follow at 7 p.m.