Grey calls for 5% county pay raises

CELINA - Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey believes now is the right time for county commissioners to grant a 5 percent pay raise to all county employees, citing their good work and the county's solid financial status.

Grey made the pitch on Tuesday morning while going over his proposed 2019 budget with commissioners.

He noted that over the last 10 years, county employees on average have received a 1.7 percent wage increase and in some years got no raises.

"During that same time, health insurance costs went up, which a lot of times gobbled up the little bit that they got," Grey said. "I will go anyplace in this state and say I've got the best commissioners because even when we have tough times, you guys manage us through it. Even though we might have to squeeze a little bit, we tend to weather the storm better than most counties and that's because of you guys."

The 5 percent raise, he said, would apply to employees, not elected officials, whose pay is set by the state.

"I've watched for several years, the villages in Mercer County and everybody given 3 percent, 3 percent, 3 percent, 3 percent," he said about pay raises for public employees. "Most of the sheriffs' offices that have contracts are anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 percent depending on what they negotiated in a contract per year."

Grey then drew attention to commissioners' letters to employees over the years, in which they thanked them for their "dedication and fiscal accountability," and "strong work ethics and for the quality of service."

"Those of us that are elected officials, our success comes from our employees," Grey said. "And even when the times are tight …. our employees have to cooperate with us for us be able to (watch our spending), and they do do that. and I just think this would be a good time to show them that appreciation."

Grey also noted how he's having difficulty finding people to fill positions.

"It's not all about the pay. Some of it is law enforcement's under attack," he said. "But I have had people leave because of the crazy hours that we work and they don't make enough money."

Commissioner's response to Grey's request was muted.

"Message received," commissioner Greg Homan said tersely.

Commissioner Jerry Laffin said that many factors go into determining employee raises each year. He also said he's been commissioner long enough to remember times when finances were strained, pointing to 2007-2009.

County auditor Randy Grapner in October pointed to numerous positive fiscal signs, among them that the county is on pace for another record-breaking year of sales tax collections.

The general fund sales tax in fiscal year 2017 brought in $5.598 million, an uptick of $169,220 from the previous year's total, while the county jail sales tax brought in $2.798 million, an uptick of $84,601. Together, total county sales tax revenue for 2017 was $8.39 million.

Mercer County's sales tax rate is 1.5 percent; 1 percent goes directly into the general fund while 0.5 percent is used each year to pay down the debt on and maintain the adult detention center/sheriff's office, west of Celina. The combined state and county sales tax rate is 7.25 percent.

The general fund sales tax collection is the county's biggest revenue stream, constituting about 43 percent of its budget. Grapner had also noted the county's state-leading unemployment rate and its retention of an A1 credit rating from Moody's.