Union County Health Board chair Lori West brought a request to move two health department employees from part-time to full-time to Union County Commissioners' July 15 meeting.

West explained the two employees have both worked in the health department for more than 20 years and held full-time positions. Budget concerns in the health department led to reduced hours for both positions starting in January 2020. Over the past couple years, the financial status of the health department has improved and can support increased hours in both positions. 

Commissioner Howard Curry asked if both employees were interested in going back to full-time hours. West replied both are interested in working more hours. Grant funding has allowed one of the employees to work an extra shift; however, that funding is set to run out. 

Commissioner Tim Williams noted moving an employee from part-time to full-time will cost the county more than $20,000 annually in benefits. Williams asked health department supervising nurse Kim Klein how the department planned to fund the additional hours. Klein replied a lot of the department's additional funds have come from vaccine administration fees. Those funds, according to state code, go into the health department's budget.

Williams acknowledged employee compensation needs to be looked at across the county. He presented research he had completed comparing county employee pay of the 11 smallest counties in the state. Nearly all of Union County's employees earn less than the average pay of their cohorts. Williams suggested the health board try to get all of its employees as close to the average as possible looking forward to the 2023 budget process.

Williams asked Union County auditor Cheryl Begley about the process for the health board's request. Begley replied commissioners can make a recommendation to Union County Council, but the council will be tasked with the final approval and appropriating the funds. Council will hold its public  hearing for the 2023 budget on Aug. 18. Williams suggested the health board take its case to council.

Curry suggested tabling the discussion until after council reviews the 2023 budget before making a recommendation to council on the full-time positions. Curry's peers voted to table.

Later in the meeting commissioners returned to a discussion of county employee pay, referencing Williams’ data. 

“It's no secret, everybody is underpaid, inflation is at 8.6 percent. I used to be on council, I know their job is to sit on that as best they can, but we've sat on it for too long and we're too far behind. We're not even competitive in a lot of jobs. We're getting people because they care about Union County or they're taking a part-time job from retirement or an easier job into retirement, it's not their bread and butter for the majority,” said Williams.

“I've told every department head that I've talked to 'ask for more wages.' This county's in trouble without them. The next thing is paying for them,” said Curry.

Williams suggested council could add in a raise based on cost-of-living, eight percent just to keep up with inflation. After that, look at each position in an attempt to get the pay as close to the small county average as possible.

Also discussed:
-Klein presented bids to have the health department's parking lot patched and sealed. Curry noted the parking lot is in poor condition and suggested Klein seek a quote to have fresh asphalt laid over the parking lot. Based on the condition of the lot, it may be cost effective to spend more money on a longer lasting repair. Commissioner Barry Edwards agreed.

-Sheriff Dale Dishmond brought a an ordinance to commissioners increasing the attorney fee on sheriff's sales from $125 to $300, based on state code which has been revised recently. Commissioners voted to approve.

Dishmond also reported on hiring a new deputy with decades of experience at the Connersville Police Department. Williams asked how far Union County deputy pay lags behind neighboring counties. Dishmond replied he is asking to increase deputy pay to the same level as Liberty Police Department in 2023. Currently starting road officers earn around $32,000 compared to approximately $53,000 in Wayne County and similar pay in Fayette County, Franklin County starts in the $40,000s.

The food vendor providing service to county inmates has quoted significant price increases moving forward. Dishmond is looking at alternative providers.

-The Indiana Department of Transportation has installed reflective strips on the stop signs at the intersection of S.R. 101, Dunlapsville Road and Retherford Road. Williams warned the reflective strips would not improve the situation, as east and westbound traffic failing to stop is not the problem, the problem is a lack of visibility of north and southbound traffic. As a result, the wrecks at Roseburg have continued.

Williams has contacted Indiana State Senator Jeff Raatz about the situation. Raatz negotiated with INDOT to install solar powered lights on the east and westbound stop signs. Williams reiterated to Raatz that lack of visibility is the problem, not failure to stop. Curry suggested removal of vegetation along S.R. 101, south of the intersection, could improve visibility.

-Commissioners voted to accept a paving bid submitted by Milestone for the county's upcoming Community Crossings Matching Grant project.

-Local farmer Justin Dare requested that upcoming bid process for the county farm be restricted to Union County residents only. Curry replied that he understands Dare's perspective, but he feels his responsibility is to bring in the most amount of revenue from county assets as possible. 

“By statute, we have to do the most, and get the most, for taxpayers for what we can,” said Williams. “Everybody has the ability to raise their hand and increase the bid, and it would go to a person in Union County. I'm sure you'd say 'I'm going to make less money if I bid more.' The same is true for us, if we limit it to this county, we'll make less money.”