Pulaski County Officials Weigh Options, After Head Highway Department Mechanic Demands Raise

Pulaski County officials are trying to figure out how to keep the county’s salary matrix intact, while also ensuring the smooth operations of the Highway Department.

During a joint meeting of the county council and commissioners last week, Highway Superintendent Terry Ruff explained that his head mechanic is threatening to leave, unless he gets a $1.50-per-hour pay raise. “This is the third employee that if he does leave, we’ve lost this year, due to there’s better jobs out there,” Ruff explained. “Our head mechanic right now is making $17.33 an hour. He’s working on dump trucks that’s worth $200,000. [Council member] Mike [Tiede], you made a mention that we take it to shops. Their rates are $95 an hour over there.” Ruff didn’t think he’d be able to find anyone else willing to take the job, at the starting wage allowed by the county’s salary matrix.

Council member Ken Boswell pointed out that granting an exception for one individual employee could lead to some problems. “You do it for one, then every employee in the county is going to come and say, ‘But it’s only a dollar. It’s only $3,000. It’s only $2,000. . . . That’s what we have to look at for it, also.”

“I’m with you because it’s a ripple in the pond, to be honest with you,” Ruff replied. “On my case, I’d say he’s the only one out there in our department I’d do this for.” Further complicating matters is the fact that the head mechanic has several thousand dollars worth of his own tools that would go with him, if he left. That led the council members and commissioners to consider offering him some sort of tool allowance, rather than a pay raise.

But County Attorney Kevin Tankersley advised that the county can’t legally hide wages in a tool allowance. “In private industry that works fine,” he said. “It doesn’t work particularly well in a government situation because [Auditor Laura Wheeler’s] office has to account for that money. If you’re saying, ‘Here’s a tool allowance,’ then you’re making this guy go buy tools with it and show receipts for what he bought. He doesn’t necessarily want $3,000 worth of tools. He wants $3,000 more pay.” He said paying the mechanic a tool rental fee might be easier, but he didn’t know if the State Board of Accounts would consider it an appropriate accounting practice.

Most of the county officials in attendance weighed in on the matter, several of them at the same time. The discussion continued for nearly 25 minutes before the commissioners and council members decided to table the issue, to give them more time to think about it and to allow Ruff to discuss the tool rental idea with the mechanic.