County looks at potential raises

More raises may be in store for county employees.

Jay County’s personnel committee discussed wage increases across all county jobs Thursday. Committee members will recommend the raises to Jay County Council at its next meeting July 21.

The increases range from 2% to 6%, depending on the job classification and level. Raises are being recommended in order to bring wages closer to figures from a pay plan survey completed by consulting firm Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates.

Committee members also agreed to recommend removing the $2,000 cap placed on longevity pay during the coronavirus pandemic last year.

Some specific raises discussed during the more than two-hour meeting were for paramedics at Jay Emergency Medical Service, deputies at Jay County Sheriff’s Office and the coroner and deputies at Jay County Coroner’s Office.

JEMS director Gary Barnett approached the personnel committee June 30 requesting a wider pay gap between paramedics and advanced emergency medical technicians. Currently, paramedics make $17.89 per hour and advanced EMTs make $16.95 per hour.

The committee –– it consists of commissioner Chad Aker and council members Ted Champ and Jeanne Houchins –– recommended the paramedics’ job classification pay get a 6% increase ($18.96 an hour for paramedics) and the advanced EMTs’ job classification a 3% increase ($17.46 an hour for advanced EMTs).

Sheriff’s office chief deputy Patrick Wells suggested raising the pay for deputies at a meeting last month to be more comparable to the Portland Police Department wages. (City police are currently paid about 50 cents more an hour.)

County auditor Anna Culy mentioned the decision by Portland City Council on Tuesday to table a vote on approving $1 raises across the board for full-time city employees and elected officials. If passed, the city increase would make the gap between starting sheriff’s deputy and city police officer wages even steeper, she noted.

The committee agreed to a 4% raise for the job classification that includes sheriff’s deputies, moving the hourly rate from $19.92 to $20.72.

Jay County Council and Jay County Commissioners took a significant pay cut in 2017 in order to save the county money during its past financial crisis. Council members’ wages dropped about $1,500, and commissioners’ wages dropped about $6,000.

Both Houchins and Aker expressed discomfort Thursday giving themselves raises. Houchins noted she would only feel comfortable if all elected officials were given a raise.

Commissioners and council took a “nice cut” a few years ago, Champ reminded Houchins and Aker. Some officials didn’t volunteer for a pay decrease, he added, and he advocated for raising their wage at the same time as other county employees.

The committee agreed to recommend giving a 4% raise to council members (from $4,800 to about $5,000) and commissioners (from $20,400 to about $21,200) and a 3% raise to other county officials.

Michael Brewster and Brayden Fields of Jay County Coroner’s Office requested wage increases for their office as well last month. Brewster and Fields requested raising the coroner’s wage by about $8,000, the chief deputy’s pay from a per-call basis to a flat $12,000 and raising deputies’ per-call pay from $150 to $225.

Compared to figures from eight other counties, Houchins said, the coroner’s current pay is about $1,000 less than the average pay. (This also lines up with the study done by Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates, according to Culy.)

With this in mind, council members agreed to recommend increasing the coroner’s pay from about $12,500 to $14,000 and the per-call rate from $150 to $200. (No salary has yet been recommended for the chief deputy.)

Houchins, Champ and Aker will meet at 2 p.m. July 22 –– one day after the July council meeting –– to discuss any potential issues council may raise with their recommendations.