Several Cass County, Michigan employees will soon be getting a pay raise.
Members of the Cass County Independent Employees’ Association will get a two-percent raise for each of the next three years, under agreements approved by the county commissioners last week. Meanwhile, elected officials will get a three-percent cost of living adjustment next year, while non-union employees will get a three-percent cost of living adjustment and a $1,200 payment.
Still, Commissioner Sam Barrera said he’d rather see a performance-based evaluation process than an across-the-board payment. "We’re a small, rural community with a very limited budget," Barrera said. "We have a responsibility to our employees, that’s correct. But we also have a responsibility to everyone who lives in Cass County."
His motion to remove the $1,200 payment was ultimately voted down.
Going forward, Cass County is exploring changes to its wage and salary administration policy, designed to allow the possibility for current employees to get bigger raises if they’re promoted.
County Administrator Jennifer Rentfrow said she currently has the authority to hire new employees at a higher pay level, but she can’t do anything similar for internal promotions. “We’ve had promotions of maybe four grades higher, where they got a seven-cent increase – like, literally seven cents for taking on an enormous amount of work," Rentfrow told the commissioners.
Commissioner Barrera suggested including some guardrails, like requiring requests to go to the county’s Salary Committee.
But Chief Judge Carol Bealor was worried about candidates for promotion being discussed in a public meeting. "And so, I’m just putting you on notice that if you move forward with this, I’m going to seek legal advice because I don’t believe that is lawful," Bealor told the commissioners.
"Thank you. We appreciate the threat. Thank you," Barrera replied.
In the end, the commissioners decided to refer the proposed change to the Policy Committee for further discussion.
