Supervisors pare salary increases to 2 percent

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County?s proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 includes a 2-percent salary increase across the board for the county?s elected officials.

This increase is half of the 4-percent increase recommended by the compensation board in January. The compensation board?s recommendation is the maximum increase allowed; the supervisors can choose to increase salaries by a lesser percentage, even as low as zero percent.

The 2-percent increase means the salaries would increase as follows, with the current salary listed followed by the fiscal year 2013-2014 salary: sheriff: $69,030 to $70,411; attorney: $82,343 to $83,990; treasurer, auditor, recorder: $52,243 to $53,288; supervisors: $30,142 to $30,745.

The 2-percent increase not only affects the salaries of those elected to office. It also impacts other county employees, as many of them are paid a percentage of the total salary of their department head.

This will also have an impact on the unionized employees of the sheriff?s department. The agreement reached between the department and the county in October 2012 called for 1.5-percent raises for the first two years and a 1-percent raise for the last two years of the four-year contract.

However, the agreement also stated that if the board of supervisors offers an across-the-board increase to the non-union, non-elected employees in any of the fiscal years within the contract ? fiscal years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 ? the same increase shall be provided to union employees.

Total expenditures in the proposed budget are listed at $14,174,151 and total revenues are listed at $13,362,246.

This means that the county will have to use $1,969,012 of its reserves in order to meet next year?s fiscal budget.

There was some concern raised on Tuesday over the county attorney?s budget.

County Auditor Shelly Barber told the board that on Thursday afternoon, she was called to the attorney?s office concerning the wages section on that department?s budget.

During the attorney?s budget presentation last week, the addition of a part-time receptionist was discussed for the upcoming year. The supervisors then passed a resolution on Thursday approving the hiring of a person for this position.

However, the attorney?s budget included plans to hire a second-part time person, which none of the supervisors nor Barber remembered

?They knew that?s what their intentions were, but they did not present that,? said Barber, noting she was asked by the attorney?s office to not change the numbers they had budgeted.

?I don?t mean to be going behind his back in any way, shape or form, but they called me down and put me in the middle of it so I wouldn?t change it,? said Barber.

When County Attorney Darin Stater was asked about this, he said he had previously mentioned the plans to divide the receptionist position between two part-time staff members who would also be cross-trained to do other work in the office.

Another concern was that the assistant attorney position was budgeted as having a salary increase from $45,000 to $57,000 for an increase in hours from 25 hours to 32 hours per week.

?I think it?s an awfully steep increase,? commented Supervisor Greg Moeller.

Stater said that the extra money for this position is due to the addition of a new juvenile program which will increase the hours, though the hourly wage will remain about the same.

The supervisors chose to approve what Stater had budgeted, with the condition that the assistant attorney would be funded as a part-time position at $34.80 per hour.

?I do not want to see us have a situation where we could create a full-time position,? said Lindeen.

The county will be holding a hearing on this proposed budget at 10 a.m. on Feb. 26 during the board of supervisor?s meeting.

In other business Tuesday morning, the supervisors voted to move forward with acquiring a waterproof container for electronic storage at the citizen?s convenience center ? the waste collection site behind the Emergency Management Building on West Washington Street in Mt. Pleasant.

Barber explained that Mike Prottsman of Prottsman Sanitation had approached her about it because Great River Regional Waste Authority now requires electronic waste to be placed in cardboard boxes for disposal.

?They get wet, they get soggy,? said Barber. ?These boxes can?t be wet, they won?t take them wet, either.?

Prottsman said he was able to get a 20-foot container for $3,400, and he would do some work such as adding rails for $2,414.24. This way, the boxes could be kept dry and the container could be hooked onto the truck and hauled to the landfill.

Lindeen suggested that the county apply for a grant through the Great River Regional Waste Authority to pay for the container.

The supervisors voted to pursue the grant and in the meantime move forward with the container. If the county receives the grant, the container will be the property of Great River Regional Waste Authority; if not, the container will belong to the county.

The supervisors also heard from the sheriff?s department, which is applying for a grant to purchase three in-car cameras.

Two of these cameras would be replacing older cameras, and one would be added to a previously unmarked police car. The grant would provide $4,500 per camera.

The supervisors also heard from County Engineer Bill Belzer, who gave his weekly update and monthly report to the board.