KINGWOOD — The Preston County Commission allotted $249,412.49 to officeholders for employee raises during a special meeting on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear how much each office, such as the county assessor’s office and prosecutor’s office, will receive. County Administrator Kathy Mace said now that a plan has been approved, she would have the exact breakdown of the funds ready by Tuesday.
The raises will be retroactive to July 1 with back pay to be paid out on Nov. 1. The Nov. 15 paycheck will reflect the raise. County Clerk Linda Huggins said her office will work with the other offices and those dates allowed enough time.
The county budget still has $457,432.51 in contingencies. Commissioner Samantha Stone said the commission’s goal has been to maintain at least 5% of the county’s budget in the contingency fund, deeming it a “must” in being fiscally responsible with taxpayer money.
Commission President Don Smith said the contingency fund is currently at 5.2% of the budget after the raises, with $20,788.81 over the 5% threshold.
Each office holder will be responsible for deciding which of their employees get raises.
“We cannot legally tell you, all we can say is here’s the salary. That’s it,” Smith said. “And it’s up to you to figure out what you want to do with it. You could give all of it to one person. I hope you don’t do that. But that’s legal and there’s nothing we could do.”
Commissioner Dave Price said the public will be the one who judges how each elected official spends the increase.
Stone said the commission came to the number by trying to solve two different problems. The first was that starting salaries were too low to compete.
“We’ve heard that over and over again,” Smith said.
The commission hopes no county employee makes less than $13 an hour after the raise — however they cannot make it a requirement, Smith said.
“So we tried to make salaries more competitive,” Stone said. “And, you know, we feel that the $249,412.49, when it is allotted to each office holder, should allow them to adjust positions to make them more competitive. That was the main goal.”
Price said he felt good about the raises and the carryover was better than expected with COVID, and the commission decided to give pretty much everything above the contingency floor of 5% to employees.
The provided breakdown of the $249,412.49 is as follows:
Law Enforcement: $72,943.40
Bailiff/Security/Process/Litter $2 per hour: $34,259.68
Lower paid employees $1 per hour: $16,518.06
Other county employees 7%: $125,691.35
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