The Vermilion County Board has approved $5-thousand dollar bonuses for employees who worked through the pandemic, along with pay hikes included in new three-year contract agreements.
County Board Chairman Larry Baughn says some employees will get more than the $5-thousand dollar bonus…
[AUDIO: ‘’Everybody’s getting the five-thousand. There were just different – if you see our resolution you’ll see that some were paid more on the hour in the increase than others. So those at the very top of that increase won’t see the 800. Those toward the bottom of the increase will see the additional 800 dollars.’’]
The resolution Baughn mentioned wrapped up negotiations with various bargaining units that represent most county employees.
Steve Fourez chairs the County Board’s Finance and Personnel Committee – and says forging the agreements required lots of work…
{AUDIO: ‘’I don’t know that anybody had ever sat down – other than at budget time – and that’s usually each department is kind of in a vacuum by itself. We sat down and took all the departments and compared compensation across departments for similar duties and responsibilities, and tried to make sure everybody was on par level relative to the rest of the employees.’’}
In addition to the bonuses, the agreements include pay hikes and increases covering the next three years. The wage benefits also extend to non-union employees within each department.
Fourez explained how the county was able to come up with the money to do it….
{AUDIO: ‘’There are several – for lack of a better term – fee-for-service type funds that some of the departments have. And we set-up so we could tap into some of that without depleting those funds. And some of it is coming from the Recreational Use Tax that we haven’t ever had before. And we hadn’t really dedicated a place to use those funds – so that’s part of it.’’}
The ‘recreational use tax’ is tax proceeds coming from the legalization of the sale of cannabis. The third source that was used to make the raises and bonuses possible is ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds the county received to help it recover from the pandemic.
The County Board unanimously approved the combined resolution and budget amendment covering wages and benefits for county employees in all departments. The new contracts run from December 1, 2022 through November 30, 2025.
The County previously approved a wage increase and contract for the Detention Center and Laborer’s union at the July County Board meeting.
The newly approved bargaining agreements include:
- The General Teamster’s Local Union Number 26 – ($3 per hour increase). (3.5%, 3%, and 3% annual increases).
- The Fraternal Order of Police – Correctional Sergeant’s unit – ($5 per hour increase). (3.5%, 3%, and 3% annual increases).
- The Fraternal Order of Police Correctional Officer’s unit – ($3 and $5 per hour increase). (3.5%, 3%, and 3% annual increases).
- The Fraternal Order of Police Patrol/Deputies unit – ($6.67/hour increase). (3.5%, 3% and 3% annual increases).
- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 21 – Judicial unit — ($3 and $5/hour increase). (3.25%, 3.125%, and 3,125% annual increases).
- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 21 – Non-judicial unit – ($3/hour increase). (3.25%, 3.125%, and 3.125% annual increases).
The County Board also directed that the economic wage benefits be extended to non-union employees within each department.
