Wayne County Council is exploring how to reward county employees’ longevity in the 2025 budget.
During their Sept. 4 meeting, council members discussed stipends for employees who have worked at least five years. Wayne County assigns a wage to each position and employees are paid that wage, whether they’ve worked one day or 30 years.
Council reviewed multiple aspects of the 2025 budget and initiated the discussion about 2025 wages. Consultant Waggoner Irwin Scheele & Associates of Muncie last year provided council external midpoints for jobs similar to county positions, and council raised wages to those midpoints plus an across-the-board raise. This year, the consultant has updated the midpoints without executing a complete study. Tony Gillam, chair of council’s finance committee, proposed wages be raised halfway to the new midpoints. Next year, the consultant will provide a detailed study of external midpoints for council to again adjust salaries.
Gillam also recommended council award a 2% across-the-board wage increase, saying each percentage point of raise costs about $225,000. On top of that, Gillam suggested a $200,000 pool for the longevity stipends that would increase with every five years of service.
Several council members volunteered to work with Kim Clauser, the HR director, to create a proposal for the stipends. Council has discussed providing longevity pay to reward loyal employees, but is not yet ready to implement anything more than the stipend.
“We can see the impact and do a better job next year,” said council member Max Smith. “But it breaks the ice and gets us started down that road.”
Council did decide to boost salaries for the recorder and chief deputy to the standard level for elected officials and chief deputies. For years, the recorder, and consequently the chief deputy, has earned less than other elected officials.
This year, elected officials are paid $83,563 and chief deputies, $62,672, which is 75% of the elected officials’ pay.
Gillam said the budget’s public hearing is planned for council’s Oct. 2 meeting, with adoption planned for the Oct. 16 evening workshop.
Tax abatements
SugarCreek Packing Co. was granted a 10-year tax abatement by a 7-0 vote. The standard abatement decreases by 10 percentage points each year.
Ron Holbrook of SugarCreek said the company is purchasing equipment that will enable it to add products it currently cannot produce to be more competitive. The company, which currently employs 592 at its Cambridge City facility, plans to add 20 jobs with an additional $840,000 in payroll.
Council’s tax abatement committee had previously discussed the tax abatements and recommended approval.
Smith expressed gratitude for SugarCreek’s involvement in the community, especially in Western Wayne.
WUR tire day
Wayne Union Recycle will collect used tires 36 inches or smaller from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 26 at Richmond Sanitary District, the Union County transfer station and the Hagerstown transfer station. Residents of Wayne or Union county may participate.
Commissioners meeting
The Indiana Department of Transportation will pay Wayne County $41,758.50 for damage to detour roads while a U.S. 40 bridge west of Centerville was replaced last year.
During their afternoon meeting Sept. 4, the county commissioners unanimously approved an INDOT contract to receive the money for patch paving of the detour route, which included Mineral Springs and College Corner roads. INDOT finances repairs when extra traffic caused by detours damages local roadways.
A version of this article appeared in the September 11 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.