Putnam County employees receiving a $500 bonus after the Putnam County Commission approved the payment during its budget session Monday night.
Commissioner Jonathan Williams proposed providing county employees with a permanent $500 annual cost-of-living increase, saying rising inflation has made additional compensation necessary.
“I think there’s more than enough money in our general fund based on funds that were turned in last year to give our county employees a $500 a year cost of living increase,” Williams said, “So I would like to make an amendment to that effect.”
The initial proposal sought a permanent annual raise, but the commission voted 14-9 to amend the motion into a one-time bonus.
“I would sorta like to amend Jonathan’s motion to make this a one-time thing this year and then maybe re-look our scale because maybe do a percentage or something to keep us in line or keep us competitive with the state or with other larger counties,” Commissioner David Andrews said. “I would move to make it a bonus this year.”
Budget Committee Chair Ben Rodgers said the one-time bonus will cost the county approximately $500,000 when taxes and retirement benefits are included. Rodgers said the total county budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $300,891,916, funding all county departments, funds and the school system. He said the one-time bonus will automatically drop off next year’s budget and be paid to eligible employees in a single check.
The bonus applies to employees in the General Fund, Parks and Recreation, Solid Waste and the Road Department.
“I learned a long time ago in business that you got to take care of employees,” Commissioner Sam Sandlin said. “You just got to and I’m going to vote for this.”
The commission also approved a certified property tax rate of 1.6392 following the county’s recent reappraisal. Rodgers said the certified rate is designed to be revenue neutral, generating the same amount of tax revenue as the previous rate despite changes in property values.
“Some people’s taxes go up, some people’s taxes go down,” Rodgers said. “But at the certified tax rate, it’s meant to be a revenue neutral tax rate, so the only thing we would see additional is the growth in the county, so the improvements to land, so the commercial or residential improvement to land.”
The budget passed on a 22-2 vote after the employee bonus amendment was adopted. Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter said the county plans to conduct a new pay scale study after the first of the year to evaluate employee compensation for future budgets.
