The Vermilion County Board Finance and Personnel Committee has begun a long process intended to improve salaries among Vermilion County employees. They began with an analysis of the Health Department. County Board Chairman Larry Baughn says, this is about helping keep good people around with one-time salary increases, which would be separate from union contract raises negotiated in the future. Baughn says some things were really noticed while putting together the recent budget.
AUDIO: We’ve seen a turnover of employees, just like any other industry or service has here in the past year or year-and-a-half. So I think what we’re looking for is just to be competitive and stop the turnover. Driving down North Vermilion I see a cook at a local restauant starts at $17.00 an hour. And we’ve got several people that work for less than that, and we ask them to do a lot.
The committee has decided to work on each department one at a time. They have tentatively set on a three dollar hourly increase for health department employees, but before anything goes to the full County Board for approval, Baughn says all departments will need to be looked at.
AUDIO: Some of our people here at the Health Department are making 40 cents over minimum wage right now. And with our three percent raise that’s in their union contracts, right now at this point and time moving forward to next year, they wouldn’t even be at the minimum wage level. So we’ve got to get above that.
Baughn says one important thing right now is to handle this properly. Because if salary adjustments like this need to be done way off in the future, the committee wants a precedent set for handling it.
AUDIO: I think that’s why we’re trying to slow down, take it the right way, and put the whole plan together. That way, ten to 15 years from now, when nobody else is sitting around this table that’s there tonight; they’ll know how we got there are why we got there.
For now, the Finance and Personnel Committee will meet to talk about this again next Monday, January 31st; as well as at their next regular meeting on Monday, February 7th.
