The Marshall County Council members discussed a proposed salary ordinance for Marshall County Community Corrections.
The budget was approved for Community Corrections last month whose organization operates on a July 1-June 30 budget schedule. The organization is grant funded by the state.
Two different salary ordinances were brought before the council members. One ordinance offers no raise, which reflects what was awarded to Community Corrections for the budget. The second proposed salary ordinance reflects a three percent raise, if the council approves that employee salary increase for 2019.
The council members were unsure where the money would come from to fund the raises for Community Corrections staff since that money was not included in the grant funding for the fiscal year. The funding remained flat for the operating year that began July 1. Auditor Julie Fox suggested that the money would come from the project revenue fund, if raises are approved for county employees.
Fox cautioned the council members as they have not yet entered into budget negotiations for 2019. Additionally, no instructions have been given by Waggoner, Irwin and Scheele who were tasked with reviewing job descriptions and salaries for all county employees. Their report is behind by a month as they previously said all paperwork would be complete by the end of June. Even then, their recommendations need to be reviewed by the department heads with any amendments to be submitted with the final draft to be produced by the consulting firm.
What those documents entail will affect how the council members structure next year’s budget. They previously asked department heads to include in their projections a four percent increase to accommodate uncertainty and that can be cut accordingly.
The council members unanimously voted to table the salary ordinance and ask a Community Corrections representative to discuss the details in greater detail during their August meeting.
The council anticipates budget discussions in August with cuts to be made in September.
