Deputies Get Pension Hike
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Kosciusko County Council passed a 1998 budget Monday night, but not before hearing an earful about the need to improve benefits for sheriff's deputies who are among the lowest paid officers in the area.
Police Merit Board spokesman Stan Pequignot, underscoring the need to boost the police pension plan, said the current pay level was "embarrassing," and that a sense of dedication was a prime reason many deputies remain with the department.
Deputies are among the poorest paid in the area, and improving the pension plan would be the "cheapest and best long-term solution," Pequignot said.
"If we can't compete at the pay level ... then we've got to compete someplace else. We've got to give something to keep our people here and keep them interested," he said.
The pension proposal was pitched after county council chose to provide officers and most others roughly a 3 percent salary hike for 1998.
The plan would boost pension benefits for those officers retiring after 1998. Retirees with 20 years' tenure receive about $1,300 per month in benefits. The new plan could boost that figure about $300 a month, according to Sheriff Al Rovenstine, who earlier sought significant pay raises for his officers.
The change is the first adjustment made to the pension plan since it was established in the early 1980s.
The estimated cost of funding the county's share of the pension plan in 1998 will be $108,000. Without the change, the cost would have been about $94,000. The department has 27 merit employees, Rovenstine said.
Council approved the measure unanimously after the commissioners made a recommendation to support the change two weeks ago.
Monday's meeting was scheduled as a last chance to reduce the 1998 budget before submitting it to the state for review. Although the budget is believed to be about $1.1 million over the frozen levy, council apparently will seek to use money in the county general operating balance to cover much of the difference.
Council received updated financial figures on the proposed budget following recent budget sessions that resulted in $447,000 in reductions from initial proposals.
County officials will meet with members of the Indiana State Board of Accounts in November to finalize the budget.
Council also approved $25,000 for the sheriff's department to cover the cost of medical expenses incurred by inmates. [[In-content Ad]]
Kosciusko County Council passed a 1998 budget Monday night, but not before hearing an earful about the need to improve benefits for sheriff's deputies who are among the lowest paid officers in the area.
Police Merit Board spokesman Stan Pequignot, underscoring the need to boost the police pension plan, said the current pay level was "embarrassing," and that a sense of dedication was a prime reason many deputies remain with the department.
Deputies are among the poorest paid in the area, and improving the pension plan would be the "cheapest and best long-term solution," Pequignot said.
"If we can't compete at the pay level ... then we've got to compete someplace else. We've got to give something to keep our people here and keep them interested," he said.
The pension proposal was pitched after county council chose to provide officers and most others roughly a 3 percent salary hike for 1998.
The plan would boost pension benefits for those officers retiring after 1998. Retirees with 20 years' tenure receive about $1,300 per month in benefits. The new plan could boost that figure about $300 a month, according to Sheriff Al Rovenstine, who earlier sought significant pay raises for his officers.
The change is the first adjustment made to the pension plan since it was established in the early 1980s.
The estimated cost of funding the county's share of the pension plan in 1998 will be $108,000. Without the change, the cost would have been about $94,000. The department has 27 merit employees, Rovenstine said.
Council approved the measure unanimously after the commissioners made a recommendation to support the change two weeks ago.
Monday's meeting was scheduled as a last chance to reduce the 1998 budget before submitting it to the state for review. Although the budget is believed to be about $1.1 million over the frozen levy, council apparently will seek to use money in the county general operating balance to cover much of the difference.
Council received updated financial figures on the proposed budget following recent budget sessions that resulted in $447,000 in reductions from initial proposals.
County officials will meet with members of the Indiana State Board of Accounts in November to finalize the budget.
Council also approved $25,000 for the sheriff's department to cover the cost of medical expenses incurred by inmates. [[In-content Ad]]