BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace on Jan. 23 reviewed a plan to make annual raises for elected officials an automatic part of the county's budget process.
The Personnel Committee took no action other than to forward the plan for elected officials' raises to the next Personnel Committee for discussion.
The plan provides for elected officials' raises with three criteria. According to the plan, officials will be budgeted for raises "equal to the average increase that is budgeted for Benton County employees. Any change above or below the average increase given to employees, other than as required by law, shall require a waiver in policy approved by the Quorum Court. Finally, the policy required pay for all elected officials shall never be less than the minimum or more than the maximum of the ranges established by law.
Barb Ludwig, the county's human resources administrator, said the "average" raises for employees would be calculated based on any cost-of-living increases plus the base amount of any merit pay.
"This will be built into the budget every year," Ludwig said. "It will be the average raise everybody gets -- employees, elected officials and justices of the peace."
Ludwig said county elected officials are currently paid at 80 percent of the maximum level set by state law. The state sets ranges based on a county's population and has increased the minimum and maximum pay by 3 percent a year in recent years.
The panel also recommended approval of a temporary plan to deal with catastrophic health situations with an ordinance allowing employees to donate unused sick days to a "bank" that can be drawn on by employees who meet certain criteria and who have used all of their own vacation days, sick days and comp days.
Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith asked the Quorum Court to adopt a sick leave plan now to benefit Bruce Rutherford, an investigator for his office who has been dealing with serious health issues. Smith said the temporary "bridge" ordinance will allow employees to donate their time to a specific employee. He said the county will be working on a permanent plan.
"This is only for right now," Smith said. "This makes it easier to help an individual employee right now."
Bob Bland, justice of the peace for District 11, said he is concerned adopting a temporary ordinance opens questions about treating all employees equitably.
"In general, I am for this type of ordinance, but I'm not for this one," Bland said. "I think we're throwing it together."
Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 6, questioned how the county will account for the sick days when employees are compensated at different levels.
Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 9 and committee chairman, said Jones' concern hadn't been a problem in the past when the county had a similar policy.
"I've been through this before, and it seemed that people at the the high end were donating more because they were off less," Sandlin said.
Ludwig said the county scrapped the previous plan after questions were raised about possible abuse of the system by some employees. She said the new ordinance will incorporate elements of the federal Family Medical Leave Act, including a requirement for an employee to obtain a doctor's diagnosis to be eligible for the plan.
County health plan
Benton County Judge Barry Moehring said officials are evaluating the employee health plan, which has had several years of higher than anticipated costs and a diminishing reserve. Moehring said he hopes to have a plan to address the problems ready for the Personnel Committee by midyear.
Source: Staff report
General News on 02/07/2017