Raises may depend on classification

Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review



All Rights Reserved

Jay County Council members want to give raises.

How large those raises will be is a different issue, and it may depend on employee classification.

Rather than deciding on across-the-board raises of 1, 2 or 3 percent, council on Wednesday tasked the county’s personnel committee with reviewing pay levels in relationship to a salary analysis and developing recommendations for increases.

It also approved an ordinance setting minimum year-end cash balances for 11 county funds and got an update from Jay Emergency Medical Service director Eric Moore.

Auditor Anna Culy presented council members Jeanne Houchins, Ted Champ, Bob Vance, Gary Theurer, Cindy Newton, Mike Rockwell and Faron Parr a spreadsheet that shows the financial impact of 1-, 2- and 3-percent raises (about $33,000 for each percent) across the board. (Overall salaries will increase by about another $33,000 because of the addition of a new position in Community Corrections.)

Houchins, council’s president, said she wants to be able to give raises at some level this year after multiple years of freezes. Other council members chimed in their agreement, with Theurer and Champ cautioning that giving raises that are too large could hamstring the county come budget time next year.

Parr added that he is not a fan of across-the-board raises. He said such increases could further throw the county’s wage scale out of whack.

Instead, Parr suggested taking a closer look at the county’s salary scale and giving varying raises — with higher percentages going to those employees who have fallen behind during the last few years.

“The little piece of pie we have to give raises isn’t very big, and the people on the low end that need it who have been underpaid, they’re the ones I’d like to provide immediately,” he said. “And if that eats up most of the raise money, it eats it up. … That’s the very first step is getting them up to scale. They’ve been getting the short end of the stick.”

However, a study of the job classifications and wage scale by management consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele and Associates is not expected to be complete until September.

When they commissioned the study in March, council members said that if timing was an issue they could decide independently on raises this year. They would then make salary adjustments as suggested in the study during the 2019 budget process. But they apparently changed course Wednesday.

They asked Culy to inquire as to whether salary information is available now. And if not, they asked her to provide the personnel committee — commissioner Chuck Huffman, Houchins and Champ — with details from a 2015 salary analysis.

That group will review the information available and then make a recommendation to council at its Aug. 9 meeting as to how to divvy up the about $100,000 available for raises.

Council also approved a resolution establishing minimum year-end cash balances in its key funds. The ordinance had been talked about at several special budget sessions over the last few months and is designed to give the county a built-in cushion in case of shortfalls.

The minimum balances are as follows:

•Rainy day — $1.75 million.

•County general — $1.5 million.

•County highway — $1 million.

•Cumulative bridge — $1 million.

•Cumulative capital development — $500,000.

•Economic Development Income Tax — $500,000.

•Local roads and streets — $250,000.

•Infrastructure — $250,000.

•Jay Emergency Medical Service — $200,000.

•Local Option Income Tax public safety — $100,000.

•County health — $50,000.

Moore updated the board on Jay Emergency Medical Service, noting that collections have been minimal because of complications with the switch to outsourced billing through The AccuMed Group. Because of the change, the service had to go through recertification for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and then the process started over when former commissioner Doug Inman resigned in May. Moore said he expects billing to pick up significantly next month and that the service, which had previously been a drain on the county budget, will be in solid financial shape in 2018.

That self-sufficiency is one of Moore’s goals for the coming year, in addition to upgrading the service’s Portland base, purchasing a new ambulance, improving community outreach and partnering with Jay School Corporation and John Jay Center for Learning to provide first responder and EMT basic classes.

Council also decided to apply for funding from the state through an Emergency Medical Service Manage Care Reimbursement Agreement. There is an initial cost of $9,991.05, but the county is expected to be reimbursed $29,924.89 this year.

In other business, council:

•Approved the following additional appropriations: $10,000 from the health department’s bioterrorism grant for the preparedness officer, supplies and equipment; $2,500 from the prosecutor’s pre-trial diversion fund for Dunkirk to start a criminal investigations fund; and $1,000 from the surveyor perpetuation fund for location of cornerstones.

•Made the following transfers: $40,077.90 to paving from chloride in infrastructure; $28,152 to field supervisor from home detention officer in the Community Corrections Grant; and $1,000 to overtime from translator in Jay Superior Court.

•Removed $139,120.94 from the Jay County Building and Planning line item in the general fund. The money is no longer needed there because building and planning has been moved out of the general fund.