Halifax County Commissioners on Monday gave the county manager directions to include bonuses and pay raises for staff in the upcoming fiscal year budget.
While no official vote on the matter was taken, a majority of the board members indicated they want a $1,250 bonus for full-time employees and a $750 bonus for eligible part-time staff. They also gave their consensus for a 5 percent raise for staff and 10 percent raises for the sheriff’s office and detention staff.
The issue was raised by Commissioner Thomas Barrett, who said he would prefer not to use fund balance to pay for the raises. “I personally don’t like doing that because that’s basically paying for recurring costs out of our savings account,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fiscally prudent to pay for them out of savings. I’m suggesting that we put them in the budget.”
In studying the proposed financial plan for the county, Barrett said he looked at some items to offset the costs. One of the positions he discussed was an open administrative officer slot in EMS that hasn’t been filled. “That has not had anybody in it for over a year and a half so, obviously, I don’t think that position’s being utilized very much.”
He suggested eliminating that position as well as one of the two the board gave the sheriff’s office last year. “One of them was made into a crime scene investigator, which I know he needs, but the other position was never filled.”
With the proposed budget expected to fund a pilot program for transporting mental health patients, Barrett said the unfilled position was another that could be eliminated. He put a counter-proposal on the table for a 3.75 percent raise and a $1,000 bonus. “I think that’s a good raise. The U.S. military is at 3.8 percent this year. If we eliminate those two positions, we can fund the bonuses and fund the transport thing out of the budget. If it comes up a little short, then we’ll just have to take it off our capital. I think at the end of the day it puts us in a position where we’re spending the money we’re bringing in.”
Board Chairman Vernon Bryant said he agreed with leaving the bonuses at $1,000. “We had given the county manager the direction of $1,250. I just think maybe we need to stick to the $1,000 as opposed to $1,250. I hate to say it, but to be honest with you, the expectation of our employees is that if you start, it’s going to be kind of hard to stop it.”
Bryant said the $1,000 bonus has been given for several years.
Commissioner Gary Redding said the bonuses are something that could be re-evaluated every four to five years. “I want to reiterate the viewpoints I made the last time about the work ethic of our county employees, which you echo almost every meeting by saying we have some of the hardest-working county employees in the entire state. We also want to show appreciation for them. I know that this is just a drop in the bucket with gas prices skyrocketing and grocery prices skyrocketing. We don’t even take into consideration that they have families, they have children in school.”
Redding said he believes the employees are deserving of the $1,000 — plus a bit more. “I think we’re fiscally able to do it and I think we should get them to $1,250. I wish we could do more, but I think that’s a good start and we can re-evaluate it in four or five years.”
Bryant said he believes that employees deserve a bonus. “All of us think there’s no question that we should do a bonus; I just don’t want to raise expectations too high.”
He said there was a time when the county was not in the fiscal shape it is in today.
Commissioner Jimmie Silver said he didn’t believe a $1,250 bonus was going to set up unrealistic expectations. “It does help out the people who are on the lower end. But $1,250 extra during the summer maybe helps out on a vacation or with these gas prices.”
Most of the board favored the $1,250 bonus as well as the raise figures that were discussed.
County Manager Dia Denton said she needed direction. “We are in the short rows of me presenting this budget to you in two weeks. So if I could get direction today — even if it’s just from four of you — that’s what I’m going to go with.”
Denton did say that to boost the detention center salaries to 10 percent, the county will have to defund three positions in the jail. The defunded positions, however, will eventually have to be funded as the county gets closer to opening a new jail. “We have to make sure we fund those positions and then add additional positions in order to cover the additional population.”
