Pay increases on the table for Montgomery County employees
In one of their final, local legislative acts, the Montgomery County Commission led by exiting County Mayor Jim Durrett, could authorize a pay hike Monday for county employees amid inflation.
A 5% cost of living pay increase is on the table, and there's been no formal indication of pushback on the idea up to now.
Durrett is leaving office at the end of August and the commission is changing after the Aug. 4 election.
The county is currently in the process of conducting a pay study to evaluate its current personnel pay structure.
In the resolution for the pay hike, it says because of the "extensive time and effort required to gather all of the information for the pay study, the information was not available to be provided through the spring (fiscal 2022-23) budget preparations."
Until the pay study is completed, the county wants to go ahead and provide the 5% cost of living increase for the employees.
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That increase would not apply to elected or appointed county officials, or county department heads, who had already received increases in pay at the beginning of the fiscal year through a measure from the state County Technical Advisory Service.
The pay hike, if approved, would be retroactive to the start of the second pay period in July 2022.
The cost to county taxpayers from this pay increase for employees is "not to exceed $3.5 million for the County General Fund, $250,000 for the County Highway Fund and $90,000 for the Library Fund."
EDC pay raise
Separately, the county is considering a similar resolution to authorize a 2.5% raise for employees of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council.
The resolution for the EDC pay raise cites a July report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in which a 9.1% overall inflation increase was measured for the past year.
The EDC cost of living pay increase would also be retroactive to July 1, to, as the resolution states, "lessen the financial stress of employees and help reduce the likelihood of further staff turnover."
Over the past year, the local EDC has seen a 29% staff turnover rate. The EDC workforce isn't included in the county's pending workforce pay study.
The agency says it realized salary, benefit and tax budget savings in the prior fiscal year through staff vacancies and benefit elections (more than $89,000 in industrial funds and $57,000 in tourism development funds) that the EDC Board of Directors wants to apply toward the 2.5% cost of living pay adjustment.
The EDC is the umbrella agency of the Industrial Development Board, Convention & Visitors Bureau and Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Reach Jimmy Settle at jimmysettle@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0247. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Montgomery County employees may see pay increases if approved
