The Pulaski County Council unfroze salaries for three Pulaski County positions after the council held a lengthy discussion on the revised salary ordinance. The council dropped the freezes for the economic development director, health department registrar, and head cook at the sheriff’s department. However, the discussion over the salary of the jail matron remains, as the council decided to table the discussion over that salary.
The proposed salary ordinance would have frozen the salary for the head cook at the jail at $32,738 annually, which comes out to roughly $15.73 per hour. It would have also frozen the salary for the health department registrar at $30,961 per year, and the economic development director at $51,300.
The ordinance includes an increase in pay for part-time dispatchers and jailers with at least seven years’ experience at $15 per hour – an increase from $13.12. It also adjusts the salaries for EMS employees: the wage for the EMS director would increase to $18.96 per hour for $39,437 a year, while the assistant EMS director will earn $11.89 per hour, with the other two paramedics making $11.57. Intermediate EMTs would bump up to $9.61 per hour, while basic EMTs would earn $8.98.
Sheriff Mike Gayer sought an increase in the salary for his department, across the board, of $1000 to better compete with neighboring counties. He told the council that he has already had to train more rookies because two experience deputies left the county for better paying jobs elsewhere.
The council approved a motion to drop the freezes for the economic development director, health department registrar, and head cook at the jail, and approve the salary ordinance with those changes.
