Pulaski County is taking another look at how some of its maintenance workers are getting paid.
Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston asked the county council Monday to allow him to move one of his part-time employees up to full-time status. “The need is there,” he said. “The workload we have has increased significantly from the last three years. We did get a part-time position just to take over cleaning of the County Highway Garage. That’s working out great. This is for one of my maintenance techs to become full-time and aid me in the maintenance of the buildings and grounds.”
However, council members raised some questions about the arrangement between the maintenance and highway departments. It’s designed to allow the highway department to share a maintenance worker with the other county offices.
But the highway department is funded by gas tax revenue, separately from the rest of the county. The highway department used to pay for its own custodian, but now the maintenance staff gets paid from the county general fund, even when they’re doing work for the highway department. Johnston said extra money to cover the cost of the work at the highway department was never added into his budget.
County officials pointed out that the highway department should technically be reimbursing the county general fund for maintenance services. Highway Supervisor Terry Ruff says the money to do so is still in his budget. Auditor Laura Wheeler added that since maintenance workers spend a specific amount of time at the highway department every week, the reimbursement could be worked into the county payroll.
While that should free up some money in the maintenance department’s budget, Johnston’s request for just over $26,000 to bump an employee up to full-time status was tabled until council members have a chance to look over the county budget.
