Members of the Polk County commission’s Handbook Committee debated for nearly two hours last week, finally agreeing to add a floating birthday holiday to the county’s personnel policies but failing to increase employee pay.
The committee studied proposals to raise the pay of both part time and full time employees and heard a request from the health department.
Committee Chairman John Pippenger presented two proposals, one to increase part time pay and a second to add increases for extended years of service.
Under his first proposal, part time employees would be put on the same per-hour rate as full time employees based on years of service.
Currently, all part time employees are paid $7.97 per hour, no matter their years of service.
Commission Chairman Debbie Davis said, “the money needs to go up,” but added her concern over the need to balance the budget.
Commissiner Dewey Esquinance made a motion to go with Pippenger’s plan and Pippenger seconded. But when Davis and Commissioner Samantha Trantham voted no, the pay increase failed.
Pippenger stressed something regarding part time pay had to be put in writing for the handbook, because no pay rule regarding those workers currently exists.
Trantham then made a motion to keep the pay rate the same at $7.97 and Davis seconded. When the vote was taken, Pippenger joined them in voting yes, while Esquinance voted no.
A separate proposal by Pippenger to raise pay an additional $1,040 a year as employees reach ten years of service and then at five year anniversaries after that failed to get traction with Davis and Trantham, again pointing to budget concerns.
The four committee members agreed unanimously to add a floating birthday holiday for full time employees, as long as it is taken within the birthday year. It cannot be accrued.
Health Department Director Jeannie Bentley and Amanda Hill asked that the four county employees who work at the department be placed under the county’s personnel policy.
Currently there is no policy governing the four since, as Pippenger said, commissioners have believed for years that the employees fell under state guidelines.
The health department request drew opposition as it asked for county employees there to receive more sick time, a higher accrue rate for vacation days and a higher cash out rate when leaving employment than regular county employees.
Hill said because they do the same job as state employees, they should be compensated in the same way.
Each commissioner on the committee expressed opposition, echoing the opinion that all county employees under the commission need to be treated the same.
Davis told the health department representatives all their employees need to belong to the state.
The county currently pays 80 percent of the four employees’ insurance along with their Tennessee retirement system match.
Health department representatives were told to revise their proposal for consideration before the budget committee meeting June 9.