Budget Committee Recommends Revised Pay Scale for County Employees
by Chris Tramel
The DeKalb County Budget Committee has been trudging through the 2021-22 budget, with the committee making some progress recommending most department budget requests, including adopting a proposal to revise base pay of some county employees.
During budget committee meetings last week, Second District Commissioner Sabrina Farler made a motion to revise the pay of county employee that fall under two separate wage scales. The 13-tiered plans, include employees who work for elected and appointed county officials at the courthouse and county complex, which top out at 20 years, while the other is for full-time library staff and senior center directors, which top out at 13 years.
Pay increases for the 20-year plan employees could range from $3,744 to $4,896 annually depending on years of service, with the 13-year plan increasing by $2,976 to $4,128. With benefits, the proposed pay hikes would increase the new budget by $129,703 in new spending, but County Mayor Tim Stribling said there may be a way to offset the increase by using funds previously used for solid waste.
With the closure of the county landfill several years ago, Mayor Stribling said that the solid waste fund, which still has other revenue sources such as sales tax, can now operate without added hotel-motel tax money. The county transitioned from a landfill to a transfer station, where wastes are now shipped out of the county. The hotel-motel tax brought in $514,258 over four years with an average of $128,564. Stribling suggested that the money brought in from the hotel-motel tax could be moved to the general fund to cover the cost of the pay raises.
The pay scales were originally established by the County Commission for the 2017-18 fiscal year, with the 20-year scale based on a percentage of the then $68,682 annual salary for the Trustee, Clerks of the Court, County Clerk, and Register of Deeds. Commissioner Farler proposed that calculations for pay scales be revised based on the current annual salaries of $78,282. The new starting salary for a first-year employee in the 20-year pay plan would be $30,530 and would cap at $39,924 at 20 years. New entry level pay for full-time library staff and the senior center directors would be $24,268 with a top out of 33,662 at 13 years.
The budget committee voted 7-0 to include revised plans, including the salary increases, in the budget. Those voting in favor of the motion were Commissioners Farler, Julie Young, Jenny Trapp, Dr. Scott Little, Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, and Beth Pafford.
The budget will need the approval of the County Commission at their next meeting.
