County raises employee wages by 3 percent

Negotiations still working with one employee group

EPHRATA — Grant County employees will have a little more money coming to them in their next paycheck.

After negotiations starting back in late 2004, the Grant County Commissioners approved an across the board 3 percent pay increase for county employees.

Of the approximately 550 full time county employees, Commissioner Deborah Moore said Thursday that only the public works bargaining unit contract has not been settled. The adjustment is something that happens most every year at the county, but Moore said the county has seen some increased revenue in recent months to support the pay adjustment.

"This is something we are mindful of when we enter into our budget process," she said.

The request falls short for some elected officials who came before the commission earlier this month seeking parity to the commissioners and to their counterparts in counties similar in size.

Negotiations with nine separate bargaining units since last November resulted in the increase, which will be implemented retroactively to the first of the year. In addition to the salary adjustment, the county also approved approximately $330 for county employees in VEBA funds. VEBA is a medical savings plan that county employees can use for services not covered by the county's health insurance plan.

"It's very innovative," Moore said of the VEBA plan, "I'm very pleased that we were able to offer that to the employees."

Moore said each county employee has the option of taking the money in cash as an alternative to the VEBA account plan, which will roll over from year to year. One of the bargaining units has chosen to take the money in cash rather than use the VEBA plan, Moore said.

The raise is a smaller amount for some county elected officials who went before the commission May 4 to request an increase in pay that would bring them to a parity level with the commission and to elected officials in counties of similar size. That request was made by Assessor Laure Grammer, Auditor Bill Varney, Clerk Kenneth Kunes, Coroner Jerry Jasmine, Sheriff Frank De Trolio and Treasurer Darryl Pheasant.

The request would have increased salary for De Trolio by approximately 11 percent. The remaining five elected officials' salaries would have increased by approximately 12 percent if the request was enacted. In a letter to the commissioners, the groups said their request was made based on a salary review conducted on county employees in 2000 but that has not yet happened for elected officials.

Moore said the board of commissioners felt the three percent raise and VEBA money given to county employees would be best to give to all county employees.

The three percent across the board increase disappointed some elected officials who had requested a higher raise.

"I'm not even sure whether they looked at our data," said Pheasant, who said elected officials in smaller counties get paid significantly more than their counterparts in Grant County.

"I guess that's their answer," Varney said of the change.

Varney said he thought the six elected officials would be leaving the situation up to each individual as to whether to go back before the commission to discuss the changes.