The White County Budget Committee agreed on a $1.45 property tax rate and a flat-rate salary increase for county employees Monday night.
The committee was presented the details for each position’s salary with both an eight percent raise and a $4,000 flat salary increase. Committee members wrestled with creating a different raise for emergency personnel, but County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the flat, across-the-board increase was better because every employee is essential.
“The county emergency services can’t operate without the people in the offices,” Robinson said. “If central maintenance ain’t there to fix the vehicles, they cant go. If Jerry’s people ain’t there to fix the roads, they can’t get there. If Chad’s people aren’t there to write the checks, people won’t be here to work.”
The budget committee also proposing a full-time EMA Director instead of the current part-time position. Commissioner Roger Mason said making the EMA director full time is a necessity, no matter the price.
“Based on what I’ve heard, the position is valuable,” Mason said. It’s sort of along the same lines as some of the other stuff where the return on investment is there, regardless of who it is.”
Cranford agreed, stating the full time position would pay for itself in the form of more grant opportunities and better response to emergencies. He said emergencies may not stop with a full time EMA director, but the state will not invest in a county that refuses to invest in itself.
The committee debated giving the EMA director a lower salary than other department heads, as well as how much of a gap should be between that salary and the EMS director.
In addition to salary raises, employees who have spent three years or more working for White County will now receive longevity pay. Full time employees will receive $100 for every year of employment, while part time employees will receive $50 per year.
Initially, the longevity pay was to begin after an employee’s fifth year of service. County Finance Chad Marcum said the change would cost the county no more than $34,000 if it were started after an employee’s first year, and even less if implemented after year three.
Commissioners David Cranford and TK Austin favored giving longevity pay after three years instead of five.
The other issue the commissioners worked out was the addition of a full time EMA director instead of the current part time role. The hangup was the salary number. The previous budget proposal, which included a $1.44 property tax rate, would have paid a full time EMA director some $68,000.
The committee initially asked Marcum to add those elements to a $1.44 proposal, which would have been discussed at a special called meeting. Instead, Cranford moved to send a $1.45 rate to full court due to the committee’s confidence in that rate’s ability to cover costs of the proposed changes.
“It’s a relief just to get [the budget] out of this committee,” Commissioner Kyle Goff said.
Although the budget passed at Monday’s meeting, amendments may still be proposed and made during the full court meeting on July 21.
