White Co. Commission Approves Employee Bonus And Raise

A White County Commission resolution earned a round of applause at Monday night’s commission meeting.

The approved resolution grants county full-time general and highway department employees up to $3,000 in bonus money. Part-time employees would earn up to $1,500. Both bonuses are funded through the American Rescue Plan. Sheriff’s Office Employee Dillard Dodson said that he’s grateful the resolution passed and that the funds will help a lot of families in the community who need it.

“You know working for the county for a while, I’ve heard a lot,” Dodson said. “And most of the time when something like this comes it’s just automatically every county employee goes ‘Ah that will never happen, we’re never going to see that. They’re not going to do that.’ And it shouldn’t be that way because we work for the county and we look to them for appreciation and we look to them to do what they can for us.”

Dodson thanked all of the commissioners who voted yes and for hearing the wants and needs of their constituents.

Commissioners Dillard Quick and T. K. Austin both voted no. Austin said that he feels like the bonus is unfair to everyone else who also worked during the pandemic.

“I just don’t feel that the amount is too high for what it was and there were a lot of other people in the county that worked through the pandemic and they didn’t get anything,” Austin said. “I don’t feel that the county employees are any more important than the ones that also worked through the pandemic.”

Budget Committee Chair Stanley Neal said that he’s ready to move on from the resolution that has stirred up some controversy.

“It’s taken up a lot of the budget committee’s time working on this specific subject,” Neal said. “We need to get onto the budget that’s coming up for next year, and we’ve lost a lot of time already on it. Me being chairman, I like to have that budget done and completed, and voted on in June so it’s ready to go into effect July 1st. So we’ve got a lot of making up to do as far as work goes.”

Commissioners also approved a five percent raise that goes into effect in June.