The Mississippi County Quorum Court’s Finance Committee will likely consider employee raises next month when it wraps up the 2020 budget meetings.
The board met Monday afternoon to discuss several budgets, including a $3.5 million proposal from the Road Department, and has only a few small budgets remaining to discuss before the 2020 budgets heads to the full Quorum Court.
“In looking at all of these budgets, the big question mark is insurance,” said Justice Michael White, who chairs the Finance Committee. “And then the second question mark that needs to follow right behind that are raises. We have just a little bit over 200 employees.”
Finance director Kelli Jones doesn’t expect to know how much insurance will increase until next month, though officials are anticipating a bump of the current $9,724 to around $11,000 per employee.
White noted for the past three years when trying to give raises, there has been little difference in total dollars between a three percent cost of living raise and a straight across the board raise of $1,000, with $1,500 for elected officials.
“Either way normally cost us about $220,000 to give raises whether it’s three percent or $1,000 across the board,” White said. “We did more than that last year and went $1,500 across the board, which cost us $300,000. And then we gave them a bonus too, which I don’t think anybody wants to entertain or discuss that this year.”
He noted last year the raises and the bonuses cost the county around $500,000.
“Our question will have to be what’s sustainable in the long run, because when we give raises, it’s from now on,” White said. “Or when the cost of insurance goes up, it’s from now on. It’s not just a one-time thing. So, the $300,000 raises that we gave last year carry over into next year and then to the next year and the same thing will happen with what we do this year. At a 12 percent increase on our insurance, we are looking right about $1,000 per employee also. So we’re looking at over $200,000 in potential insurance increases. Then if we want to top raises a little over $200,000, it would raise our overall budget $400,000 if we try to do both for 2020 and for every year hereafter.”
Board members approved of White’s suggestion to allow Jones to pencil in all the expenditures and revenues discussed over the last several weeks, then the board look at how insurance will affect the budget once it gets solid numbers.
“I’m anxious to see the insurance (figures); that will determine which way we go,” Justice Bill Nelson said.
The plan is to meet on Monday, Nov. 4, and then on Monday, Nov. 11, if necessary, with the hope of approving the budget at the regular Quorum Court meeting on Nov. 26. Jones isn’t sure if she will have the insurance figure by Nov. 4.
“To be honest with you, we can make the budget,” White said. “I’m not worried about that. Eight, 10 years ago we couldn’t make budget because we had no reserves. We were broke. We can only budget 90 percent of anticipated revenues. Eight years ago that’s all we had was 90 percent of anticipated revenues with nothing else back then. This year we’ve got over $3 million in revenues that we have finally managed to build back up. So, we can make budget, but I don’t think we ever ought to over-budget, over-anticipate revenues. It concerns me what happens in the future.”
He added, “I want to give everything we can and not a penny more. We’ve got to be able to afford it not just next year but every year after that.”
Other board members shared White’s concerns.
“This year is good,” Justice Molly Houseworth-Jackson said. “But if we continue that cycle and the revenues are simply holding, eventually it’s going to catch up with us.”
Justice Neil Burge noted when he was elected to the quorum court four and a half years ago, the county was spending $1.51 for every $1 in salary with benefits, and this year it’s $1.64.
“So, $1.64 for every dollar we spend on salaries, the benefit cost us 64 cents,” Burge said.
Burge added once justices have the final proposed figures “we’ll have to decide how much can we divert to increases. Then you have to decide, is it going to go to insurance, is it going to go to raises or how it’s going to go. But I think there’s a number there that we have to stay within.”
White said for a four-year period, the county was unable to give raises, but offered bonuses as it could.
However, the last three years the county has provided “good raises” which has moved it to the middle of the pack of JASEP, which compares employee salaries with other entities, White said.
“A $30,000 employee is getting, just with insurance, a $41,000 package (if insurance costs are as expected),” White said. “We also pay of course social security, Medicare, retirement.”
Meanwhile, White told the committee that the county is reaping the benefits of the economic development projects, pointing out that the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program is paying off.
The county has been getting the PILOT payments from industries, who pay 35 percent of what their typical tax bill would be as an incentive to open a facility or expand.
Burge noted the county is losing population, which has led to a drop in personal tax collections.
“But our industrial tax base is what’s saving us,” he said.
In other news, the finance committee reviewed the budgets of the Road Department, Judge Ralph Wilson, Court Automation, Coroner, Blytheville District Court and Osceola District Court.
One of the biggest changes in the $3,565,935 proposed Road Department budget was a uniform increase from $14,000 to $28,000.
“He (County Judge John Alan Nelson) has mentioned this to us two or three times,” White said. “The uniforms they have are not meeting safety standards, and he’s going with high visibility, reflector type uniforms.”
He added Judge Nelson is spending more money on gravel than some other previous judges.
“We’ve had some conservative judges in the past that would be afraid to overspend themselves — and you’re always glad for conservatism,” White said. “I would think our Road Department is the place to be conservative when it comes to road materials. We have 1,100 miles of county roads in Mississippi County that we are mandated to maintain. It’s hard to maintain them when we save money in our road material budget.”
Meanwhile, White pointed out that the circuit court judges’ expenses are shared between the six counties in the Second Judicial District and based on case load and not population.
For example, Mississippi County typically has 3,600 cases compared to Craighead County’s 6,700 and they are billed accordingly, White said.
“After this election, we are going to lose Judge Ralph Wilson; he’s retiring,” White said. “We’ll only have one circuit judge (Dan Ritchey) out of 12 that resides in Mississippi County.”
He noted Wilson has been the administrative judge for the Second Judicial District the last few years.
“That’s a loss for Mississippi County,” White said. “I hate to lose Judge Wilson. He’s been a good public servant and a great asset for Mississippi County.”