Commissioners approve raise, payroll adjustment for employees

By Miles Smith

LPR Editor

The sound of applause cascaded through a packed courtroom at the Caldwell County Courthouse on Thursday as commissioners approved a 5 percent pay raise for all county employees.

In addition to the raise, commissioners approved a one-time $1,000 payroll adjustment that is intended to soften the blow of a one-paycheck month in October, when the county will switch to 26 pay periods from 24 pay periods in an effort to clean up its books.

The move to approve the raise and adjustment was made to allay concerns brought to commissioners by county department heads who emphasized during multiple meetings the havoc smaller paychecks would wreak on a typical two-paycheck month for employees who are already paid lower than those in surrounding counties.

“Let me tell you, our employees are what matters,” Commissioner Joe Roland said. “If we don’t take care of them, nobody else is going to. I’ve been staying up at night since the last meeting trying to think about how we could make sure they get compensated.

“I don’t want to start a riot here, but what if they just decided they were going to take off today, every last one of them?”

Employees will receive the payroll adjustment on Oct. 15 and will receive their first paycheck of the new fiscal year four days later.

Read more about the discussion that preceded the decision, where the money is going to come from, and the FY 2018-19 tax rate in Thursday’s Post-Register.