News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
White County Commissioners will consider a COVID bonus and a five percent raise for general county employees and the highway department at its next meeting.
That the result of a budget committee vote Monday night. Committee member Stanley Neal made the motion.
“There were some employees that wanted a bonus and wanted a bonus only and there are some employees that wanted a raise,” Neal said. “And what I tried to do is to make it to where everybody was kind of getting a little bit of what they wanted.”
Under the plan, full time employees would receive a $3,000 bonus, part time workers $1,500. The COVID bonuses would be prorated over 15 months beginning January 1, 2021.
“By doing that, some employees that came in after January 1, 2021, won’t get as much as some of the ones that have been there the whole time,” Neal said. “But being there that whole time through that covered time period, it’s kind of fair that they would get the people that work the longest would get the most money.”
Commissioner TK Austin voted against the proposal. He voiced concerns that using COVID funding for bonuses could open the county up to a lawsuit from other eligible employees that meet eligibility for bonuses under federal guidelines, but did not receive the bonus.
If approved by the commission, the raise would go into effect June 30. It would not be subject to discussion during the budget process.
“It will be already set and it won’t be a part of this next budget for the following year,” Neal said.
Neal said he is hopeful the entire commission will pass the proposal and help the county move past the divisive issue. County employees and residents packed the county meeting room Monday night as the budget committee deliberated the plan.
