A worldwide health pandemic didn’t stop officials from giving raises to county employees in 2021.
The Jackson County Council recently unanimously approved a salary ordinance, resulting in 270 full-time and around 50 part-time employees receiving a 2% bump in pay.
The council was happy to do that, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact people’s lives in a variety of ways, including financially.
“I think it’s important to continue to do what we can to increase pay and offer great benefits,” said Kari Storey, who was named the council’s new president at the start of the new year.
“We are committed to working within our current tax rates to balance the budget each year,” she said. “We build in a 3% raise, then handle anything else. Due to the challenges with the pandemic, a result of 2% is where we ended up.”
In previous years, annual raises have been 3%.
“The pandemic has affected many employees, businesses and government in different ways,” Storey said. “I think we should try and focus on the positives and hope we can continue to move forward in allowing increases to county employee wages, balancing the budget, all while we maintain a low tax rate.”
She said department heads have approached the council looking for ways to save the county money by applying for new grants due to the pandemic.
“I think this is a great way to think outside the box to continue to increase productivity while helping the county maintain a balanced budget,” Storey said.
County Human Resources Director Jeff Hubbard said there’s a process to the council proposing raises.
“They go see what the growth rate is for the incoming year, and then they see what is truly needed by the departments as far as what their budgets are proposed,” he said. “Then from that, they determine what kind of percentage they can afford to give to employees.”
Given the ongoing pandemic, Hubbard was pleasantly surprised by the raises.
“I was surprised that we got anything,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting anything, so 2% was good for everybody.”
Hubbard also said employees’ health insurance premiums changed 3.9%.
“Other than that, all of the benefits remain the same as far as retirement and everything else,” he said.
The county commissioners set the health insurance.
“Employee health benefits are something we want to try and offer to the employees without causing the employee to pay a high premium,” Storey said. “It’s important we continue to work with our insurance providers who we trust in providing excellent service. I know health insurance can get costly and out of hand; however, Jeff and the commissioners try to meet to ensure we are keeping close eyes on the insurance rates.”