Supervisors propose county employee pay increases

     When it came to county employee salary and wage increases, for the most part the Jones County Supervisors tried to stick to a 3 percent increase across the board.

     For budgetary purposes, the board approved proposed increases during their Feb. 7 board meeting.

     Elected official (board of supervisors, auditor, treasurer, attorney, sheriff, and recorder) increases of 3.6 percent and 2 percent for supervisors were approved by a vote of 3-2, with Supervisors Wayne Manternach and Jon Zirkelbach opposed.

     The Compensation Board recommended 4 percent increases for elected officials across the board. Supervisor Ned Rohwedder wanted to see that proposal reduced to 3.6 percent, with the exception of the board of supervisors reduced to 2 percent.

     Manternach commented that he didn’t think the Comp Board’s 4 percent recommendation was not out of reason.

     “They did their due diligence and collected the information for an educated decision,” he said.

     Rohwedder said his motion is still above the standard of living “and provides a good wage increase for all.”

     Supervisor Joe Oswald, who seconded Rohwedder’s motion, agreed.

     “It’s still a nice increase and shows we’re being fiscally responsible,” said Oswald.

     Zirkelbach commented that a 2 percent increase for the board would allow more funding to go to other county programs.

     “It’s in the best interest of county officials to set an example for what’s going on in the county,” he remarked.

     The board decided to hold off a week on approving wage increases for appointed department heads with staff supervision (JETS director, Secondary Roads engineer, Conservation director, Mental Health director, and Senior Dining director), as well as for appointed department heads with no staff supervision (Environmental Health administrator, Veterans Affairs administrator, Public Health coordinator, IT coordinator, and GIS coordinator).

     The board of supervisors also proposed the following wage increases:

     • Assistant County Attorney, 3 percent (from 4 percent)

     • Secondary Road maintenance supervisor, 3 percent (from 5 percent)

     • Chief Deputy Sheriff, 3.92 percent (which is tied to the Sheriff’s salary)

     • Jail Administrator, 3 percent (from 3.5 percent)

     • Communications Supervisor (dispatch), 3 percent (from 3 percent)

     • Sheriff Office Manager, 3 percent (from 4 percent)

     • Secondary Roads Assistant to Engineer, 3 percent (from 5 percent)

     • Secondary Roads EIT, 3 percent (from 4.5 percent)

     • Conservation Park Ranger, 3 percent (from 5 percent)

     • County Attorney Secretary, 3 percent (from 4 percent)

     • Secondary Roads office manager, 3 percent (from 20.33 percent)

     Manternach said he understands what County Engineer Derek Snead’s intentions were in wanting to bring his office manager up to a comparable wage, but felt the increases could be addressed more with yearly step increases versus a 20 percent increase.

     • Conservation naturalist, 3 percent (from 5 percent)

     • Conservation office manager, 3 percent (from 3 percent)

     • Social workers, 3 percent (from 5 percent)

     • Mental Health advocate social workers, 3 percent (from 3 percent)

     • JETS drivers, office staff, 3 percent (from 3.5 percent)

     • Senior Dining cooks, drivers, site managers, 3 percent (from 2 percent)

     Deputy auditors, treasurers, and recorders’ pay increases are tied to their respective department heads, requiring no action by the board of supervisors.