With increased traffic to the county recycling depot and lagging wages compared to other positions around the state, Solid Waste District Director Sue Studebaker asked for wage increases for her staff Tuesday.
Studebaker said that she only took a 1 percent pay raise for 2011 and no pay raise for 2010.
She also noted that unlike other county employees, nobody in her office gets health insurance, retirement benefits, floating holidays or election days off.
Solid District board member Ron Truex said he felt the solid waste district budget was a good one.
Both Truex and board president Brad Jackson said they knew that pay increases for other county departments wouldn’t be as much as those requested by Studebaker.
Studebaker noted that the positions she has at her office lag behind when it comes to comprable across the state.
Truex asked board member John Kinsey, who is also a county councilman, to consider the solid waste district employees' lack of health insurance and fringe benefits when looking at the budget.
The final decision on the county department’s budgets will go through the County Council.
Studebaker said her office continues to remain busy and June was a record month.
So far this year, the recycling depot has collected more than 80,000 pounds of electronics.
