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News
Proposed budget has raises for county workers : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisProposed budget has raises for county workers
| Board votes 5-3 to place tentative budget on public display
| by Matt Schury
| 10/18/2012
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The Kendall County Board approved placing a tentative 2013 fiscal year budget on public display that includes raises for non-union county employees.
Approval came at Tuesday's County Board meeting in split 5-3 vote with board members Bob Davidson, Jeff Wehrli and Dan Koukol casting the three no votes. Board Chairman John Purcell voted present and Elizabeth Flower was absent during the vote.
Board member Anne Vickery, who chairs the county's Finance Committee, said the budget shows a deficit of $1.1 million currently but she expects that figure to decrease before the final budget is approved.
The budget shows in $25.2 million in revenue and transfers in and $26.3 million in expenditures and transfers out.
Information provided by Vickery at the county's committee of the whole meeting last week shows a tiered pay increase system of between one and four percent for the county's non-union employees. Under the system, lowest paid employees receive a four percent raise and the highest paid employees get a one percent raise.
Vickery confirmed Tuesday before the tentative budget was approved that the raises were included in the budget.
Board members discussed whether it was appropriate to increase the 63 non-union employees' wages this way.
The system would give one county employee making $28,406 a year a four percent raise. Employees making $30,480 to $39,166 annually would see a three percent raise and workers making $41,288 to $59,638 would get a two percent raise. Finally, workers making $61,171 to $110,519 would see a one percent bump in their pay.
Vickery said her system would cost the county $60,407 next year or $23,438 more than just giving those same 63 employees one percent raises next year.
Davidson was a vocal opponent of the tiered system of raises and instead said he wanted to see "flat dollar raises."
"I can't support that, not in today's economy-no way, shape or form. It just does not fly," Davidson said.
Board member Suzanne Petrella defended the raises Vickery was proposing
"Today's economy doesn't only hit us it hits those folks too. They're struggling with less money," she said. "You have to reward some people or they'll just be in and out brain drain constantly. People are sought out for their skills in some occasions and it could happen here too."
Board member Nancy Martin said the raises were warranted given that the employees saved the county more money than what they are rewarding them with in raises.
"Some times you just have to reward people for what they do and sometimes that's a slap on the back and sometimes it takes money," Martin said
During the committee of the whole meeting Martin said she couldn't support the tiered raise system.
"It sounded like taking the wealth and redistributing it," she said.
Vickery said she takes raises seriously and noted that that raises they are receiving are under what their counterparts are receiving in other counties.
"I think we are being very fair," Vickery said.
Davidson explained that he wasn't against raises just this system.
"Everybody deserves a good raise in this county," Davidson said. "But we cannot afford these kind of percentage raises coming across the board."
Board member Jeff Wehrli added that he didn't want to set the non-union employee wages before union negotiations begin next year.
"I would just assume see those (union contracts) go forward before we set precedent by numerating the non-union raises," Wehrli said.
Board member John Shaw noted Tuesday that it was just a tentative budget for review by the public and is not cast in stone.
"This isn't a death wish to present it for review. I don't want to be compared to the Senate of the United States in never having a budget put forward," he said, noting that the budget would just go on display and could be tweaked later.
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