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Five-percent raises or more set for most county employees
Most county employees are set to see a five-percent raise in 2024.
Putnam County leaders have been waiting since early 2023 for the results of a wage study to see how county employees compare with those in similar positions in the region.
With those results in hand, the Putnam County Council recently grappled with what to do with a number of employees who are above the suggested pay scale.
In all cases except those in which an employee makes significantly more than the suggested wage, five-percent raises were granted for the coming year.
The council started its discussion on Tuesday with elected officials, granting all elected positions a five-percent raise. On a few of these positions, however, even the raise put them under the suggested salary. For these, the council voted unanimously to bring the salaries in line with suggestions from the study.
The council also approved bringing the wages of all courthouse first deputies in line by setting them at 85 percent of the elected official’s salary.
With these decisions made, the council set to work on the slightly more complicated matter of going through each department and reviewing those positions that would currently be considered “overpaid.”
In most of these cases, the five-percent raise for 2024 was still granted, provided that it did not exceed the high end of the salary study suggestion.
In a few cases, however, the salaries exceeded the limit by several thousand dollars, and the council chose to freeze these wages until the average catches up with them in a year or two.
With this work done, the council will move forward with approving the 2024 salary ordinance in a special meeting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28.
However, the work on county wages is not complete.
In more cases than not, county employees were found to be underpaid in the current salary format. The council is planning a series of meetings in 2024 to address these underpaid employees.
“With everything that report shows, it’s going to take multiple meetings to go through the salaries and the tiers,” Auditor Kristina Berish said.
When pay is addressed and the wages increased, the salary ordinance will be increased, with the raise paid to the employees retroactive to the beginning of the year.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the Sheriff’s Office request to purchase a new walk-in freezer from Zesco Products for a cost of $77.212.37
The money will be paid from the cumulative jail fund, though there was discussion of it being taken from the commissary fund.
Councilman Danny Wallace, a longtime PCSO deputy before his time on the council, made the commissary suggestion, noting that the council has a lot of expenses on the horizon, with bridges, roads and a new courthouse annex in addition to the increased salaries.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff on our plate right now,” Wallace said. “We’ve got to find ways to cut some money so we can pay for things we need.”
Other council members as well as Berish, council attorney Trudy Selvia and Sheriff Jerrod Baugh expressed misgivings over whether such an expense is allowed in the commissary fund.
While checking with the state about the expenditure was suggested, PCSO head matron Tresha Clearwaters indicated it was best to move forward with the freezer sooner than later.
“We’d like to get it started because it’s got a band-aid now,” Clearwaters said.
Wallace begrudgingly made the motion to approve the expenditure, adding that the Sheriff’s Office “may not get what they want next time.”
Jay Alcorn seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
• Declined to approve a resolution from Baugh regarding use of the commissary fund.
Baugh noted that the resolution, drafted by department attorney Jeff Pitts, was a suggestion made at the new sheriffs school organized by the Indiana Sheriffs Association.
Selvia had not seen a copy of the resolution prior to the meeting and had several questions, so the resolution was not acted upon.
• Reappointed Sara Campfield to the Putnam County park Board and Jane Bray to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
• Approved several additional appropriations request from the Putnam County Commissioners including:
$105,280 from the EDIT Warchest to pay Barnes & Thornburg and Baker Tilley for legal and financial advice regarding the propose Cold Spring Solar Farm. Should the development still come to fruition, officials plan to ask the developers to repay the county for these fees.
$12,560 to pay Baker tilley for financial advice regarding the proposed annex and solar issues.
$189,234 from the hazardous waste fund to pay for road oil for 2024 paving.
$137,235 from county general to pay Cummins Behavioral Health for mental health services to the county. This is an annual payment that Berish noted had been paid a year in arrears for several years predating her term in office. With this payment, she plans to begin paying the invoice in the proper year going forward.
$4,225 from county general to pay the second half of the annual payment to the council’s own budget adviser.
$2,116 from county general to pay Baker Tilley for wheel tax analysis.
$375 to pay DLZ for annex work.
Alcorn and Wallace were joined for the two-hour-plus meeting by council members Stephanie Campbell, Keith Berry, Phil Gick, Wayne Huffman and Larry Parker.
The next regular meeting of the Putnam County Council is set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse.