Committee Requests 2022 Budget With 12% County Pay Hike
Faulkner County’s public 2022 Budget deliberations took off right away with a proposal for a 12% across-the-board salary hike for employees described as a COLA raise that Committee members eventually agreed on with a 4-1 vote.
The rather loosely run meeting of the Budget & Finance Committee on November 30 allowed quite a bit of input and cross-talk from Committee members as well as Department heads, other JPs, and audience members.
After hearing public comments and a positive 2022 revenue report from County Treasurer Scott Sanson, Chairman JP John Pickett (D, Dist. 11) referred to the charts and documentation that had been distributed about 24 hours earlier to demonstrate that County employees’ “purchasing power is being eroded by inflation.”
Referring to his charts, he said he arrived at a 12% “across-the-board” increase by adding 8.2% to make up for prior lean years of no pay raises, plus 3.8% to counter rising costs from inflation expected in 2022.
A 2022 Budget that includes 12% in reserve funds plus the proposed 12% raise “still shows a $1.079 million overage,” he added, although he couldn’t provide a total dollar amount for his pay hike proposal.
What Pickett repeatedly described as an “across-the-board COLA” pay hike would carve out employees already approved for raises this year, providing those employees only the difference of their new salary increase percentage up to 12%. These “carved-out” employees make up more than half the County’s total workforce.
Pickett later explained it was better to apply 12% across-the-board pay hikes now, saying the Quorum Court could revisit the “salary survey issue” in the January-May timeframe and adding, “I want all the Departments to address the salary survey at the same time.”
Public Comments
In contrast, with Sanson’s positive revenue report in mind, many comments from the public focused on first ensuring that the pay scale for the Sheriff’s Department be brought up to “standard” or “level” before some sort of inflation-based increase is enacted. (COLA “cost of living” adjustments are understood to apply evenly to all employees.)
And, even though Pickett repeatedly referred to an “across-the-board COLA” increase, from this point on the Committee’s discussion centered around pay equity issues in the Sheriff’s Department, with very little discussion about COLA or pay equity in other areas of County government.
Commenters mentioned the suddenness of such a large, costly salary adjustment with 24 hours’ notice, saying that the nationwide average COLA is 3%-5%.
One commenter pointed out that raising all positions across-the-board by 12% would just maintain the existing inequities in pay scales across the County. Pickett responded that the Court could address those salary adjustments sometime in the first half of 2022.
Pickett Carve-Outs: Assessor Raises
Raise requests submitted in September by Assessor Krissy Lewis were added to a Personnel Committee Resolution that says those increases would move through the Budget & Finance Committee as part of the 2022 Budget process.
Percentage increases for most of those various positions ranged from .9% to around 7.5%, with three in the 10%-11% range, and one each at 16% and 17.5%. It is assumed those last two positions would not receive a pay hike under Pickett’s proposal because their pay raise exceeds the 12%.
Pickett Carve-Outs: Chief Deputies Raises
The Assessor’s Chief Deputy’s requested raise was effective October 9, as were the raises for Chief Deputies for the Collector, County Clerk, and Treasurer, as the Ordinances were linked together.
In Pickett’s proposal, these positions, having already received raises of 9%, would receive only 3% (12-9) as part of the mis-named “COLA” salary hike proposal.
Another wrinkle is in the Ordinance for the raise for the Chief Deputy Clerk in the Circuit Clerk’s office, which states, “If cost of living raises are given at the end of the year, this position will still receive the cost of living adjustment in addition to this raise.” The other Deputy Clerk Ordinances do not contain this language.
Pickett Carve-Outs: Dispatcher/911 Raises
The Quorum Court approved pay raises for 11 dispatcher/911 positions effective September 25, and most amounted to a 9% pay hike ($31,094 to $34,000), while the Dispatch Supervisor was 10% ($36,343 to $40,000), and the Assistant Supervisor amounted to 15.7% ($31,094 to $36,000).
Angie Wooley, Fiscal Officer for the Sheriff’s Department, remarked that some 911 positions were increased “by $500” earlier in 2021, as well.
Under Pickett’s plan, these individuals would receive “COLA” hikes of only 3% (most positions) or 2% (Dispatch Supervisor). It is assumed the Assistant Supervisor would not receive a pay hike under this proposal because their 15.7% pay raise exceeds the 12%.
Sheriff’s Office 2021 Raise Request
In November the Personnel Committee again passed a Resolution setting up a pay raise request submitted in September by the Sheriff’s Department that’s designed to bring most, if not all, Sheriff’s Department positions up to the Class 6 salary survey averages for a total of $533,610 in the 2022 Budget.
These raise requests and the resulting possible ways to calculate pay equity raises and COLA hikes took up a large part of the meeting.
12% Now “Leaves 72 People Behind”
Wooley said an immediate 12% pay hike would be better across the entire Department than the Department’s 2021 raise request, but would leave around 72 positions still underpaid. She advocated for doing “the 12% if you want, but don’t leave 72 people behind.”
Attending JPs Say “No” to 12%
JP John Allison (R, Dist. 3) — not a member of the Budget & Finance Committee — explained that “would have liked time to research” the matter, and said
This [complete budget] process should be before the entire Court … it looks to be a way to cut the majority of JPs…
He added that he would not vote for a 12% salary hike.
His comments drew criticism from JP Randy Higgins (R, Dist. 2), who called Allison out saying, “This is your first year on the budget process….” Higgins said the fact that attending JPs were allowed to speak during the Budget meetings without being members of the Committee proved that JPs were not “shut out.”
JP Matt Brown (R, Dist. 8) said “12% is a big number with less than 24 hours to digest,” and pointed out that Pickett’s supporting materials “are trying to fix an existing pay problem … trying to back-door in the pay equity issues….” He said the County should “get pay where it should be” and then do a COLA hike, adding that he could not support a 12% hike but a “COLA indexed to inflation is OK.”
From the audience Circuit Clerk Crystal Taylor suggested that the Department heads could “make sure our employees are whole with the salary survey” and then the County could do a 3%-4% COLA.
Pickett Moves to Create Budget With 12% Hike
Pickett moved to “ask the Judge to prepare a 12% across-the-board” pay hike, plus the “additional amounts per the Sheriff Resolution,” plus “3% for Chief Deputies (except the Sheriff), and dispatchers at whatever level to meet 12%.”
When Pearson asked to amend the motion to add the Assessor’s office raises, Pickett withdrew his motion, remarking that “the school” (property tax revenue) pays most of the Assessor’s office salaries. He invited Pearson to restate the motion, saying “We want a 12% across-the-board adjustments plus…”
Pearson said, “I don’t know the best way to say it but whatever different, whatever raise requests were submitted through the formal process and approved by Personnel and Budget & Finance that they’d be made whole.”
Pickett added, “So we’ve got the Sheriff’s employees, raise them up to Mrs. Wooley’s Resolution. We’ve got, we have the 3% chief deputies. We have the dispatchers in the Sheriffs office, up to 12%. And we have Ms. Lewis’. It’s going to cost us $308 out of County General.”
County Clerk Margaret Darter, Pickett, and Pearson discussed how to re-word the motion, which was not further clarified or restated clearly to the Committee or the public. Several moments passed before JP Jerry Boyer (R, Dist. 12) finally provided a second.
In an unusual move, the Budget Committee voice voted 4-1 to request that County Judge Jim Baker create a 2022 Budget including a 12% across-the-board pay hike for County employees with certain exceptions as discussed in the Committee meeting, and have it ready for Thursday night’s second 2022 Budget meeting. Brown voted “No” and the 2-hour meeting was adjourned.
(This is the first time we can recall that a Committee vote was passed directly to the County Judge without first going through the full Quorum Court.)
Videos edited from original video on Faulkner County’s YouTube channel.)
Visit Faulkner County Reports on YouTube for more videos and video excerpts from this and other County meetings.
the sheriff dept needs 25% across the board pay raises …. they lack in the costly training needed to properly doo there job and it also opens avenues for new hires. thats the bottom line … also this county employees may ditto my first sentence……. not only should we keep up with the increments of minimum wage increasing but we have to create role models. our public servants are the upper legs of our communities. there our or rather should be our role models , and god knows thats needed …. and its kinda hard being a role model when our system cant be a role model to the calvery . by giving more generally not only should we exspect more grattitude but it allows more smiles to be created ..giving is sharing and caring ……we dont need money for roads “heck turn around dont drown”.. we need money to train we need money not to sit 25 officers in a class room and tell then take this test ….. majority know the law and or should ….the training they need comes in a small amount at a time its called respect from there higher up,s showing they care not just for them.. but for them to care more for our communities. and not by dinner dates to show appreciation.. all that does is make people fat… they need excersize and pushed to succeed … forthe benefits in a healthy body by far exceeeeeeds a gift card to a donut palace…. far to many times do we see a very over weight medic or fireman . or a foreman chewing tobacco and then about to give cpr… or a how often do we here quotes like i cant wait to retire .. alll that kinda stuff is evil to the morale not only in the publics eyes and ears. but to there co workers … and when alllll morale seems to fall? well you get what you get and i pray its a nice day for all….. bottom line is if we doo decide to honor and raise the incomes? i pray we use that money smartly maybe throw in paid uniforms? just a sudgestion…