Pulaski County Salary Matrix Nears Adoption

Pulaski County CourthousePulaski County believes they are within two months of revising their salary ordinance.

Months of work has led to the development of a plan, otherwise referred to as the “salary matrix.” The document saves the county money on new hires, but also provides incentives for longevity with the county.

Council member Linda Powers says there were other goals for the salary matrix, including clearly defining how employees were being compensated.

“We were told that if we’re going to do a matrix, we’re looking for consistency,” says Powers. “That’s percentages all being consistent. And the director, or supervisory, or department head, whatever you want to call them: consistent. Then those percentages for the employees, consistent.”

During Monday night’s Pulaski County Council meeting, the document was considered once again. According to the discussion, the county will see a recognizable increase in the salary rates of many employees.

Among the hiccups in the ordinance’s adoption is how to compare the employee wages against their department heads. State statute says that elected County officials are not allowed to receive raises or bonuses mid-year. Once wages have been set for the fiscal year, department heads are set at the rate.

County Council President Jay Sullivan says the percentages the employee rates are based on will be slightly different until the 2017 budget year.

“We are going to use the percentage of the department head’s wages – that are getting an increase – based on an increase,” says Sullivan.

Pulaski County froze wages for 2016 for all staff until they had an opportunity to review the salary matrix proposal.

The County Council voted to advertise the measure with adoption anticipated within the next 2 months.