FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County justices of the peace on Monday left unchanged a new pay plan for county employees that was recommended for adoption at a special Quorum Court meeting on Thursday.
The Quorum Court's Personnel Committee debated asking for an outside, third-party review of competing proposals in advance of next week's regular December meeting of the full Quorum Court but motions to seek such a review failed to pass the committee.
The Quorum Court is set to consider a new pay plan as part of the county's 2023 budget.
The Hybrid Plan was endorsed by the justices of the peace for consideration as part of the county's 2023 budget, which will be considered by the Quorum Court at its regular meeting Dec. 15.
According to information from Brian Lester, county attorney and chief of staff for Wood, the plan recommended Thursday will cost the county about $2.3 million. The proposed pay increases average $7,447.26 or about 17.44% across the board.
The plan increases pay for Sheriff's Office employees by a total of about $3.2 million. Road Department employees will see an increase of about $1.5 million with an average increase of about $17,310.
The county budget for personnel in 2023 would be $50.7 million, about 56% of the total county budget.
The pay plan for Washington County employees was delayed in October after several county elected officials raised questions about how the plan was developed.
County Assessor Russell Hill told the justices of the peace the pay plan drafted by Patty Burchett, the county's human resources director, and Sidney Reynolds, the county's information technology director, was seriously flawed and had been done without any input from the elected officials.
Several justices of the peace said Thursday they still have questions about the pay plan and how it was arrived at. Lisa Ecke, justice of the peace for District 6 and chairman of the county's Personnel Committee, said the plan circumvented established policies and procedures. Ecke said changes in grades are included that have not been reviewed by the county's Job Evaluation and Salary Administration Program committee or the Personnel Committee.
Ecke called Monday's meeting to discuss the effect the proposed pay plan will have on county policies and procedures. After lengthy discussion, the justices of the peace took no action but left questions about the future of the county's policies unresolved.
Butch Pond, justice of the peace for District 15, said the proposed pay plan did not follow the county's existing policies.
"We as a full Quorum Court did override the controls we usually go by," Pond said of the recommended pay plan.
Willie Leming, justice of the peace for District 13, said there are proposals for new policies that have been circulated but not openly discussed by the justices of the peace. Leming said he favors the increases in pay proposed for county employees but not changing the policies and procedures the county uses to evaluate pay.
"There's no need to reinvent the wheel," Leming said. "Let's just adjust their pay and go on."
Patrick Deakins, justice of the peace for District 5 and county-judge elect, said the proposed new policy controls had been sent to the committee members at Ecke's request but were not being considered along with the pay increases.
"Plan A no longer contains policy controls," Deakins said.
Robert Dennis, justice of the peace for District 10, said he made the motion to move ahead with the pay increases, but did not include any changes in the control policies and procedures.
"The motion I made was about the salaries, not about any changes in the program," Dennis said. "I don't want us to bog down and not get this done in 2022."