| County salary increase divides the board |
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| Wednesday, 03 December 2008 | |
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by Peter Bodley Managing editor Non-union Anoka County employees will get up to a 4 percent salary increase in 2009. And under the Anoka County Board action that could increase to 4.5 percent by the middle of the year. A resolution approved by the board on a 4-2 vote gives non-union employees, including department heads and division managers, a 2 percent general wage adjustment, but in addition, all are eligible for up to a 2 percent performance-based increase. The performance-based increases will be determined by the county board’s Management Committee at its Dec. 16 meeting. But the resolution also provides for another .5 percent general salary adjustment, retroactive to Jan. 3, 2009, “subject to the availability of funds following the close of the 2009 Minnesota legislative session.” That, too, will be determined by the board’s Management Committee. These same general adjustment and performance-based increases will apply to the county attorney and county sheriff, both elective offices. According to Melanie Ault, county human resources director, with a 4 percent increase Anoka County Attorney Robert M.A. Johnson’s salary will be $154,825 in 2009 and Anoka County Sheriff Bruce Andersohn’s salary will be $134,040. As elected officials, neither of their salaries are subject to the state-imposed cap on wages of county and city officials as a percentage of the governor’s pay, Ault said. The county board resolution also sets the pay of county commissioners in 2009 at $59,945, a 2 percent increase. “Only county board members will be getting less of an increase,” said Anoka County Board Chairman Dennis Berg. And the expense allowance that board members receive will remain at the same maximum amount it has since 2004. According to Ault, that totals $5,900 per year for the county board chairman and $5,300 per year for the other six county commissioners. This expense allowance is in lieu of seven-county metropolitan area mileage and other unreimbursed county business-related expenses and requires that county board members submit their expenses for reimbursement, Ault said. This allowance is treated as compensation “except to the extent for which the funds are expended and accounted for,” the resolution states. Pay increases for union workers are governed by their contract agreements with the county. Commissioners Robyn West and Rhonda Sivarajah voted no on the resolution; Commissioner Dan Erhart was not at the meeting. West could not justify approving what could be a 4.5 percent increase for county employees in these tough economic times when people are losing their jobs and businesses are closing, she said. Unemployment continues to rise and the state lost 6,500 jobs in October and is projected to lose 55,000 jobs in 2009, West said. And according to numbers West got from the MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce, 14 of its members had gone out of business this year, she said. West said she appreciates all the work that county staff does, but she could not vote for more than a 3 percent total increase in 2009. Sivarajah did not comment at the Nov. 25 board meeting when the salary resolution was debated. But back in September when the salary issue came up as part of the board’s discussion of the preliminary 2009 budget and tax levy, Sivarajah proposed a 3.5 percent salary increase in 2009 with staff making more than $80,000 a year limited to a 1 percent raise so that the bulk of the dollars could be targeted to front line county employees who are handling increased county workloads, she said. That remained her position, Sivarajah said after the Nov. 25 meeting. At the September meeting, Commissioner Dick Lang said that Anoka County had long had a fairly low pay scale compared with other metro area counties and had lost employees as a result. And Commissioner Jim Kordiak said, “I am not going to vote to have county employees carry the burden for our budget problems.” The salary increases the county provides do not keep up with inflation, he said. Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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