County panel favors raises for employees

JPs expect higher revenue, want to slow staff turnover

Many Pulaski County employees would see higher pay under a recommendation backed by a Quorum Court committee Tuesday night designed to curb employee turnover.

Pulaski County government spent $3.3 million less than it took in last year and is expected to increase its revenue again in 2016, Comptroller Mike Hutchens told the Quorum Court's Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday night. So Hutchens recommended the county upgrade the classifications of 161 positions for a total cost of about $186,000 annually, including fringe benefits, to decrease turnover at those positions.

Hutchens also recommended upgrades to dozens of positions in other county departments that are funded directly by property taxes and not by the county general fund, such as the Road and Bridge Department, which would see upgrades in 79 positions for about $131,000 more per year.

The proposal would upgrade many of the lowest-paid positions in the county, which might be considered poverty-level for some employees who hold them, Hutchens said.

"I just think if we're wanting to attract a more stable and better workforce, this is something we need to consider," said Hutchens, who has been looking into the proposal since September.

All Grade 1 and Grade 2 positions would be moved to Grade 3, Grades 3 and 4 would be move to Grade 5, and Grade 5 would be moved to Grade 6. The county has 20 grades with different pay ranges. A full-time Grade 1 employee might make as little as $21,000 per year and could see an increase of about $3,000. A Grade 5 employee who is a law clerk currently makes about $29,000 per year and would make about $1,155 more under Hutchens' proposal.

The Ways and Means Committee, which consists of eight of the county's 15 justices of the peace, unanimously approved sending Hutchens' recommendation to the full Quorum Court for final approval Feb. 22.

Recommendations moved forward Tuesday also include appropriating $1.8 million toward the deferred maintenance and technology reserve fund, nearly $600,000 toward maintenance on county buildings, about $262,000 toward the emergency reserve fund, about $127,000 toward the public safety reserve fund and about $30,000 toward increasing the juvenile services department's counseling contract.

About $261,000 would remain unappropriated for the Quorum Court to use during the rest of 2016 at its own discretion.

"I'm definitely for this," said Justice of the Peace Julie Blackwood, D-Little Rock. "Especially to go from the bottom up; I think that's the way it should be done."

At the end of December, Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley sent a letter to the Quorum Court asking for "an upgrade in salary and benefits" after 14 of his office's 20 case clerks left in 2015.

Jegley is the prosecuting attorney in Arkansas' 6th Judicial District, which covers both Pulaski and Perry counties, but his office is largely funded by Pulaski County's general fund.

Under the proposal to be considered, 22 positions in Jegley's office would be upgraded.

"Government salaries have always been dismal, but one thing we had prior to 2015 as a selling point to attract quality folks to these underpaid positions was a good health insurance plan," Jegley wrote. "That is no longer the case. Insurance premiums at the lowest level of the plan offered to Pulaski County employees are exorbitant. We can no longer even compete with other government entities, let alone private firms, for qualified candidates for jobs."

Until 2014, employee shares for health insurance ranged from nothing to $465.14 per month, and plans carried $500 individual and $1,000 family deductibles. To keep that same health plan now, individuals must pay $135.79 per month. An employee with family coverage must pay $1,251.92 per month. Employees can pay lower premiums for higher-deductible plans, including $0 for a $3,000 individual or $6,000 embedded family deductible or $14.26 per month for a $2,000 individual and $4,000 non-embedded family deductible.

County employees have had 4 percent raises each of the past two years after going four years without raises.

Pulaski County's annual carryover funds have increased in recent years, along with revenue after a period of loss and slow growth in the mid-2000s. In 2015, county revenue was $68.4 million, up from $66 million in 2014, while the county budget increased from $64.2 million to $65.1 million.

Hutchens has projected revenue above $69 million for 2016, while the county is budgeted to spend nearly $69 million, with about $1 million of that being reimbursed by the Federal Election Commission for holding the 2016 elections.

Metro on 02/10/2016

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