Madison County commissioners awarded raises to 28 county employees in January. The group heard from other employees Jan. 28 who wondered why more workers weren’t afforded a bump in pay.
Jason Luke of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office spoke on behalf of other sheriff’s deputies who attended Monday’s meeting. He noted that $120,000 was approved in raises for nine percent of county employees, including $10,000 or more for three employees who received changes in position.
“I’m a realist; I understand nothing magical will happen here,” said Luke to the commissioners. “But I have one request, the 91 percent of the county employees who didn’t get a pay increase, we would like to know why we were discounted when it came time to hand out pay increases.
Luke noted that there are many people doing important jobs for the county government.
“Two hundred and twenty five people are employed by Madison County as a whole and they all work hard, whether it’s weighing vehicles at the landfill, running EMS calls, paying our bills so the county can stay afloat, doing property valuations, fixing leaky sinks, scraping roads, assisting the elderly at the senior center, booking in county inmates at our county jail, answering the 9-1-1 calls at our dispatch center, probating wills at the probate courts, setting bonds at magistrate court or answering calls for service at the sheriff’s office,” he said. “Every person and each of the 24 departments in this county government is deserving of a show of appreciation for their hard work, dedication and their loyalty to the citizens of Madison County.”
BOC hears from employees who didn’t receive raises
Luke said he felt all of the employees should have received a cost-of-living increase instead of additional funds given to just a few.
Commission chairman John Scarborough said the $120,000 was not set aside for a cost-of-living increase, but was tagged for specific pay raises intended at bringing some of the lowest-paid workers more in line with surrounding counties. He said he wants other departments to be addressed in future budgets. He said he believes it’s the intent of the commissioners to “rectify our entire pay system.”
“People have received raises long before any of these folks (who received the raises) have, but the point is not to leave anybody out,” said Scarborough. “The point is that this is the first round. This is not the only round. And I share that with as many people as possible. The next round if there’s not enough to address everybody, then we go after as many people as we can to bring them up to a competitive rate. Trying to keep them in the county, that’s what we want to do.”
Madison County Board of Elections chairperson Tracy Dean said she was upset when she saw the article about the raises for some employees but not others in the newspaper.
“I don’t mean anything ugly by what I’m about to say but that was a slap in some of our faces,” she said.
Dean said she has seen her pay go up by 98 cents an hour since 2014, with those increases coming from cost-of-living adjustments. She said her assistant, Teresa Hilburn, has seen her salary increase by 61 cents an hour during that same time period due to cost-of-living adjustments. She said the two of them are the only employees certified in Madison County to oversee elections and that they are paid far less than in surrounding counties. She said she doesn’t feel it’s fair that constitutionally elected officers can afford raises without BOC approval and frequently don’t fill positions and use money saved to give raises.
“It’s not fair to the rest of us,” said Dean, who has been with the county government for 29 years.
Dean said the 2018 election was tough and she anticipates big challenges next year.
“In November 2018, that election was unimaginable,” she said. “I have never in my years seen an election go that way. That was only the tip of the iceberg with what’s going to happen in 2020. And we have got to be ready. And I want to have my employees trained and ready to go.”
Mike Bush of Danielsville spoke on behalf of both sheriff’s and elections employees, saying both deserve raises. Bush, who has worked for the county in helping oversee elections, also voiced worry about upcoming elections, saying that he hopes the county has adequate legal protection for election workers. He said a high-dollar elections lawsuit in Gwinnett County drives that point home.
“We’ve had situations where, God help us, you all have seen the news, the judges take our election law and stick it in our ear,” he said. “…I would hope there is some protection for our staff in the elections office, because we are told it was the rural counties that made it possible for our current governor to get over that hump, because of the heavy blue area. Just like we want to keep Georgia red, the other side wants to turn it blue. So I think it would be helpful for if nothing more than the morale for the folks who work in the board of elections office if some raises for their efforts could be forthcoming. I know you can do it. We found money for other areas. Every department in the county government is important.”
The board took no action Monday on any county pay matters.
In other business Monday, the board heard from library director Jennifer Ivey, who delivered the library’s quarterly report. She noted that the library had 21,827 patron visits between October and December of 2018, up 17 percent from the previous year. Sixty three library cards were issued in that time, up from 45 during the same time period in 2017. There were 61 adult programs with 574 people attending over the last quarter of 2018, along with 90 youth programs with 1,821 in attendance.
Scarborough said the county is due to update its state-mandated service delivery strategy, which requires county and municipal governments to meet and develop plans for coordinating services. He said the county’s five-year special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) will soon be up for renewal and that commissioners will soon discuss potential projects to put before voters. No date was given when that discussion will take place.
County commissioners agreed to allow tax commissioner Lamar Dalton to place eight properties on the “insolvent list.” Those properties have been repeatedly put up for sale without any buyers. They aren’t owned and are deemed very low value, but they have remained on the county tax digest. They will be taken off the county digest so that the county has a more accurate reading of taxable properties.
The board approved a cable and video service franchise agreement, which opens the door for the county to issue fees to companies that enter the cable and video service market in Madison County. The county already receives fees from Charter Communications.
Commission chairman John Scarborough said the $120,000 was not set aside for a cost-of-living increase, but was tagged for specific pay raises intended at bringing some of the lowest-paid workers more in line with surrounding counties. He said he wants other departments to be addressed in future budgets. He said he believes it’s the intent of the commissioners to “rectify our entire pay system.”
“People have received raises long before any of these folks (who received the raises) have, but the point is not to leave anybody out,” said Scarborough. “The point is that this is the first round. This is not the only round. And I share that with as many people as possible. The next round if there’s not enough to address everybody, then we go after as many people as we can to bring them up to a competitive rate. Trying to keep them in the county, that’s what we want to do.”
Madison County Board of Elections chairperson Tracy Dean said she was upset when she saw the article about the raises for some employees but not others in the newspaper.
“I don’t mean anything ugly by what I’m about to say but that was a slap in some of our faces,” she said.
Dean said she has seen her pay go up by 98 cents an hour since 2014, with those increases coming from cost-of-living adjustments. She said her assistant, Teresa Hilburn, has seen her salary increase by 61 cents an hour during that same time period due to cost-of-living adjustments. She said the two of them are the only employees certified in Madison County to oversee elections and that they are paid far less than in surrounding counties. She said she doesn’t feel it’s fair that constitutionally elected officers can afford raises without BOC approval and frequently don’t fill positions and use money saved to give raises.
“It’s not fair to the rest of us,” said Dean, who has been with the county government for 29 years.
Dean said the 2018 election was tough and she anticipates big challenges next year.
“In November 2018, that election was unimaginable,” she said. “I have never in my years seen an election go that way. That was only the tip of the iceberg with what’s going to happen in 2020. And we have got to be ready. And I want to have my employees trained and ready to go.”
Mike Bush of Danielsville spoke on behalf of both sheriff’s and elections employees, saying both deserve raises. Bush, who has worked for the county in helping oversee elections, also voiced worry about upcoming elections, saying that he hopes the county has adequate legal protection for election workers. He said a high-dollar elections lawsuit in Gwinnett County drives that point home.
“We’ve had situations where, God help us, you all have seen the news, the judges take our election law and stick it in our ear,” he said. “…I would hope there is some protection for our staff in the elections office, because we are told it was the rural counties that made it possible for our current governor to get over that hump, because of the heavy blue area. Just like we want to keep Georgia red, the other side wants to turn it blue. So I think it would be helpful for if nothing more than the morale for the folks who work in the board of elections office if some raises for their efforts could be forthcoming. I know you can do it. We found money for other areas. Every department in the county government is important.”
The board took no action Monday on any county pay matters.
In other business Monday, the board heard from library director Jennifer Ivey, who delivered the library’s quarterly report. She noted that the library had 21,827 patron visits between October and December of 2018, up 17 percent from the previous year. Sixty three library cards were issued in that time, up from 45 during the same time period in 2017. There were 61 adult programs with 574 people attending over the last quarter of 2018, along with 90 youth programs with 1,821 in attendance.
Scarborough said the county is due to update its state-mandated service delivery strategy, which requires county and municipal governments to meet and develop plans for coordinating services. He said the county’s five-year special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) will soon be up for renewal and that commissioners will soon discuss potential projects to put before voters. No date was given when that discussion will take place.
County commissioners agreed to allow tax commissioner Lamar Dalton to place eight properties on the “insolvent list.” Those properties have been repeatedly put up for sale without any buyers. They aren’t owned and are deemed very low value, but they have remained on the county tax digest. They will be taken off the county digest so that the county has a more accurate reading of taxable properties.
The board approved a cable and video service franchise agreement, which opens the door for the county to issue fees to companies that enter the cable and video service market in Madison County. The county already receives fees from Charter Communications.
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