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County employee wages for 1999 were set Thursday when the county council approved a wage analysis.
The wage analysis is set at 95 percent of the market value for 1999. An additional 5 percent will be implemented for 2000, putting the county at 100 percent of the market value.
"This is a rather aggressive program for the county," councilman Jim Tranter said.
The additional 5 percent must be approved by the wage committee mid-year in 1999.
County jobs were broken into nine categories. Wages were set based on the categories.
The wage increase distribution for those in clerical positions at 95 percent of the market value totals $61,026. That amount will be divided among all county employees who fall under the county clerical position category. If the 1998 wage system remained unchanged and county employees were given a 3 percent increase, the wage distribution for clerical positions would total $50,669.
County laborers' wage distribution, those in housekeeping and in other jobs, such as the highway department, will be $18,395, at 95 percent of the market value. That is the additional amount that will be divided among all the employees in that category. Under the old system, the total would be $29,318.
The category for professional people, including legal secretaries and those with college degrees, would share a total of $79,023, as opposed to $17,236 in the old system.
Law enforcement wage distribution, including jailers, would total $21,696, or $19,138 at the old system price. Merit deputies, including those with enforcement power, would share $40,214 at 95 percent of the market value, or $25,335 in the old system.
The wage distribution for appointed officeholders, including the area plan commission director, would be $27,767; $10,821 in the old system.
Elected officials' wage distribution would be $31,749, or $10,174 in the old system. Chief deputies would be $27,122, or $6,208 in the old system.
Under the system adopted Thursday, the total payroll for county employees for 1999 will be $5,630,027.
The consulting firm Wagoner, Irwin and Shields, used a market value based on counties immediately adjacent to Kosciusko, counties the same size as Kosciusko and private sector jobs similar to those in the county. The wages were averaged and a market value was then determined for each position.
Job categories were determined by a survey given to county employees. Specifics for jobs will be available Nov. 16.
"A lot of this was based on job descriptions," Tranter said.
Councilman Harold Jones said, "I think all the county employees will know where they're at in the system."
Anyone not receiving a raise based on the analysis will receive a $200 raise for 1999.
"It will have a lot of maintenance to it but will keep us all on the same plane," Tranter said.
"There will be a point where we can maintain this ourselves," he said.
Councilman Lewis Bertsch made the motion to approve the wage analysis as recommended by the wage committee.
He said, "I move that the council adopt the wage analysis at 95 percent of the market value for 1999 and the job categories as submitted by Wagoner, Irwin and Shields and the wage committee with a ceiling of $400,000."
Human Resource Director Ron Robinson said, "(The concept's) similar to what they use at Biomet and DePuy."
