Almost a year after developing a new pay scale for employees of certain county public officials, the county budget committee is proposing to replace it with a new one. But for those county officials who opposed the first plan, they don’t seem to like the new one any better.
In a scale adopted last July by the county commission, employees of the offices of Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, and Clerk and Master get step raises at a percentage of what their employer earns. But since the County Mayor gets $10,000 more than the other aforementioned officials, his two employees earn more money than other clerks. Those opposed to it say the plan is not fair or respectful of their office or employees. All the aforementioned county officials currently earn $65,221 per year except the County Mayor whose salary is $75,329 per year.
The current wage scale includes five step increases for these employees and they are eligible to earn up to 44% of their employer’s salary at level five after eight years of service. In addition, since the scale is based on a percentage of what their boss earns, clerks also get an automatic pay hike funded by the county every time the state grants a pay raise for the county’s public officials.
The current plan was not well received by the elected officials. In an effort to address concerns, this year the budget committee is proposing significant changes, subject to funding.
Under the new proposed pay plan, all employees in the offices of the Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, and Clerk and Master would earn a percentage of the salary of county officials earning $65,221 per year going forward.
No clerk’s pay would be cut, meaning raises given last year under the existing plan would not be taken away, but the two employees of the County Mayor’s office would not be due another pay raise for several years to allow other clerks to catch up since they (county mayor employees) are already earning more than the other clerks based on the current wage scale.
Instead of the current five step scale, the new plan calls for thirteen steps. A first year clerk would earn $25,436 per year or 39% of the officials’ salary. Clerks who serve as long as 20 years would reach the top of the scale at step thirteen and would earn $33,263 per year or 51% of the officials’ salary. Also, the automatic pay hike for clerks every time the state grants a pay raise for the county’s public officials is being dropped in the new plan.
During a recent budget committee meeting, the Trustee, Circuit Court Clerk, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, Register of Deeds, and Clerk and Master presented their own pay plan for consideration. Their proposal offered three options. Neither option as presented by the officials was accepted by the budget committee.
Budget Committee member Jack Barton said though changes were made, the committee actually “straight up took the officials’ option 2 but changed the base and made the flat options in the last two steps be percentages. That was a compromise over the first proposal” the budget committee had considered.
When asked for a response by WJLE, county officials (Trustee, Circuit Court Clerk, County Clerk, Assessor of Property, Register of Deeds, and Clerk and Master), wrote in a joint prepared statement that “Now, two years consecutive the budget committee has acknowledged the County Mayor’s office and employees are enduring a heavier workload and greater job responsibilities warranting a higher income for his employees. We have merely asked for our employees to be respected and treated equal in their position of employment. Also we feel these government offices perform basically the same daily duties while offering a variety of services.”
The first option proposed by these county officials called for the pay of six clerks with more than eight years of service to be raised to the same level as one of the employees in the county mayor’s office at $33,145 and that those clerks with less than eight years of service be paid a percentage of the county mayor’s salary according to their years of service on the existing five tier scale. The proposed pay for those seven clerks would have ranged from $29,378 to $30,885. The total additional cost to the county under this option would have been $54,688 this year.
The second option called for a thirteen step scale with the clerk’s pay to be a percentage of the officials salary which will increase to $68,682 for the year 2017-18; that all clerks with more than eight years of service be raised to $33,145 and then be given further raises based on years of service according to this thirteen step scale; that one of the employees in the county mayor’s office earning $31,638 not be given a raise until she has passed level nine on the scale after 10 & 11 years of service and that the other employee in that office earning $33,145 not receive a pay increase until after the eleventh step and more than sixteen years of service. This option also proposed a flat increase of $1,200 on levels twelve and thirteen for employees with 17 to 19 years and 20 or more years of service. Salaries on this scale would have ranged from $26,786 at the first step to $36,054 at step thirteen.
The third option by the county officials again proposed that clerks be paid a percentage of the (county officials’) salary for 2017-18 at $68,682 and that flat rate increases be given in amounts of $500 to $1,200 according to the clerk’s years of service on a twelve step pay scale. This option called for one of the employees in the county mayor’s office earning $31,638 to not get a raise until she has passed level nine on the scale after 13 & 14 years of service and that the other employee in that office earning $33,145 not receive a pay increase until after the eleventh step and more than 17 & 18 years of service. Salaries on this scale would have ranged from $26,786 at the first step to $35,436 at step twelve.
In their response to the budget committee’s actions, the officials wrote “During last week’s budget committee meeting, the five member board stated and all agreed they neither understand nor have full knowledge of daily operations of any elected officials’ office. However, later in the same meeting a member stated ‘the state of Tennessee says there is a salary and responsibility difference for the Mayor’s office, this is how we made our decision.” Further adding, “we used this method to get it off our back and put it in on the state”.
The officials continued “After researching and speaking with leaders in state government there is no reference to the Mayor’s employees enduring, or providing more services or duties than any other elected office employees. The law is clear. The state only sets the salaries for elected officials. The state lacks an opinion to which office performs more and does not recommend one be paid more than the others.”
“No county office is more important than the other. We all provide a service to the public. Due to the fact that other offices have employees with more seniority, merit, and equal or possibly more quantity of work but still are paid less concerns us. Every elected office is a vital asset to our county government. Each office has similar duties and obligations to fill. The decision of this committee not to match our employees pay as established for the Mayor’s employees while ignoring the views of all but one official is inadequate and complete disrespect to the officials, their employees and function of each office,” said the officials.
Meanwhile, the county budget committee is also proposing to change the wage scale adopted last year for full time library employees and the Senior Citizens Director. These employees would continue to be paid on a percentage of $65,221 but based on a new thirteen step scale instead of the current five step plan. They would get 31% of $65,221 at step one for one year of service up to 43% of $65,221 at step thirteen.
These new wage scale proposals are being recommended by the budget committee to the county commission for passage in the 2017-18 fiscal year budget in July, subject to available funding.
Archived News & Obituaries