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Supervisors ready for a raise?
By Jessie Waldheim
Daily News staff writer
Compensation increases to come before Rock County board
JANESVILLE - The Rock County Board Staff Committee approved five resolutions Tuesday increasing supervisor compensation, which together could cost the county up to an additional $53,547.84 per year.
The committee had voted to create the resolutions at its last meeting, two weeks ago. The resolutions will come before the full board at 6 p.m. Thursday in the County Board Room/Courtroom H at the Rock County Courthouse.
Since 1998 county supervisors have been paid a per diem of $35, but in 2000 the board voted to change the per diem to a per meeting allowance of $35. Currently the chair and vice chair positions include an additional $2,160 and $1,080 per year salary. Both the salary amounts were set in 2000 after 24 years without change.
The resolutions coming before the board Thursday seek to increase the per meeting allowance to $50, increase the chair and vice chair salary to $5,200 and $2,600 respectively, grant an extra $5 for supervisors who chair committee meetings, grant an extra $25 to supervisors who attend meetings of more than four hours and extend the option of enrollment in the county's dental plan at employee rates.
Each resolution approved by the board Thursday would take effect in April 2006.
The county paid out $78,540 in per meeting allowances for 2,244 meetings in 2004. If the same number of meetings hold in future years, the county would pay $112,200 at the $50 rate. This would be an increase of $33,660, or about 43 percent. Adding an additional $5 per meeting for committee chairs would cost an additional $1,380 per year. Increasing the board chair and vice chair salaries would mean an extra $4,560, bringing the total increase for supervisor compensation to $39,600.
Including supervisors in the dental insurance at employee rates could cost the county up to another $13,947.84, if all 29 supervisors enroll themselves and their families.
Already supervisors can buy into the county dental plan if they pay 100 percent of the premiums, but the resolution would allow supervisors to opt into the plan at employee rates, paying only 40 percent of premiums while the county covered the remaining 60 percent.
The annual county share of supervisor premiums would range between $5,059.92, if all accept single plans, and $13,947.84 if all take family plans. If some supervisors chose not to enroll in the plan, the yearly amount would be reduced.
Committee member Ron King for one doesn't plan on opting into the dental insurance plan and he almost didn't vote for it at the committee meeting Tuesday.
But in the end he didn't feel right denying the opportunity to someone else who may need it, he said.
He did change his vote on two of the resolutions, after supporting the creation of all five.
Giving an additional $5 to supervisors chairing committee meetings seemed irrelevant if the per meeting allowance is raised to $50. And since staff could find no incidents of a meeting over four hours in the past couple years, granting an additional $25 to supervisors on the occasion it would occur also seemed needless.
"It didn't seem necessary," King said.
But committee member Betty Jo Bussie has taken part in a meeting lasting well over four hours as part of the transportation committee and she voted to increase the per meeting allowance an additional $25 for those lengthy meetings.
In mid-April there were two transportation committee meetings where town representatives attended which went over four hours, a spokeswoman for the public works department said, but added future meetings will be spread over more days so as not to go over four hours.
But according to figures from the county clerk's office there were no meetings over four hours.
"Perhaps they have a different definition of what a committee meeting is," Bussie said.
JANESVILLE - The Rock County Board Staff Committee approved five resolutions Tuesday increasing supervisor compensation, which together could cost the county up to an additional $53,547.84 per year.
The committee had voted to create the resolutions at its last meeting, two weeks ago. The resolutions will come before the full board at 6 p.m. Thursday in the County Board Room/Courtroom H at the Rock County Courthouse.
Since 1998 county supervisors have been paid a per diem of $35, but in 2000 the board voted to change the per diem to a per meeting allowance of $35. Currently the chair and vice chair positions include an additional $2,160 and $1,080 per year salary. Both the salary amounts were set in 2000 after 24 years without change.
The resolutions coming before the board Thursday seek to increase the per meeting allowance to $50, increase the chair and vice chair salary to $5,200 and $2,600 respectively, grant an extra $5 for supervisors who chair committee meetings, grant an extra $25 to supervisors who attend meetings of more than four hours and extend the option of enrollment in the county's dental plan at employee rates.
Each resolution approved by the board Thursday would take effect in April 2006.
The county paid out $78,540 in per meeting allowances for 2,244 meetings in 2004. If the same number of meetings hold in future years, the county would pay $112,200 at the $50 rate. This would be an increase of $33,660, or about 43 percent. Adding an additional $5 per meeting for committee chairs would cost an additional $1,380 per year. Increasing the board chair and vice chair salaries would mean an extra $4,560, bringing the total increase for supervisor compensation to $39,600.
Including supervisors in the dental insurance at employee rates could cost the county up to another $13,947.84, if all 29 supervisors enroll themselves and their families.
Already supervisors can buy into the county dental plan if they pay 100 percent of the premiums, but the resolution would allow supervisors to opt into the plan at employee rates, paying only 40 percent of premiums while the county covered the remaining 60 percent.
The annual county share of supervisor premiums would range between $5,059.92, if all accept single plans, and $13,947.84 if all take family plans. If some supervisors chose not to enroll in the plan, the yearly amount would be reduced.
Committee member Ron King for one doesn't plan on opting into the dental insurance plan and he almost didn't vote for it at the committee meeting Tuesday.
But in the end he didn't feel right denying the opportunity to someone else who may need it, he said.
He did change his vote on two of the resolutions, after supporting the creation of all five.
Giving an additional $5 to supervisors chairing committee meetings seemed irrelevant if the per meeting allowance is raised to $50. And since staff could find no incidents of a meeting over four hours in the past couple years, granting an additional $25 to supervisors on the occasion it would occur also seemed needless.
"It didn't seem necessary," King said.
But committee member Betty Jo Bussie has taken part in a meeting lasting well over four hours as part of the transportation committee and she voted to increase the per meeting allowance an additional $25 for those lengthy meetings.
In mid-April there were two transportation committee meetings where town representatives attended which went over four hours, a spokeswoman for the public works department said, but added future meetings will be spread over more days so as not to go over four hours.
But according to figures from the county clerk's office there were no meetings over four hours.
"Perhaps they have a different definition of what a committee meeting is," Bussie said.
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