Jefferson County Supervisors approve 2 percent raise for all county employees

FAIRFIELD - The Jefferson County Supervisors approved a 2 percent raise for all county employees during its meeting Monday morning.

The supervisors were considering a proposal from the Jefferson County Compensation Board to raise the salaries of all elected officials 3.5 percent. Supervisor Daryn Hamilton said the compensation board argued its raise would bring county officials in line with similarly sized counties. However, the supervisors decided they needed to stick closer to the national inflation rate, and chose a lower increase.

'While we felt that most employees have gone above and beyond in the face of COVID problems, we still didn't think it was in the interest of the county to give that increase to everyone,” Hamilton said. 'We have to worry about the tax levy and how it will affect taxpayers this coming fiscal year.”

Hamilton said the supervisors are working through the 2021-2022 budget, but it's still too early to say if the county will need to change its property tax levy for next fiscal year.

The 2 percent raise will apply to all 89 county employees, including the supervisors. Hamilton noted that the supervisors did not get a raise last year.

'A couple of years ago, we were told that the compensation for us as supervisors put us in the top 20 percentile of all elected supervisor positions in the state,” Hamilton said. 'Everybody got a 3 percent pay increase last year except supervisors.”