No full-year raise for county workers
Hamilton County employees won't get a raise for Christmas this year, but they might still get one around Independence Day.
Two of the three county commissioners said Monday they won't support the full-year raise recommended in County Administrator Christian Sigman's proposed budget, which called for a 3 percent average raise for county workers starting Jan. 1.
The raises, which would have been awarded by department heads based on merit, would cost the county about $2 million for a full year.
Republican commissioners Chris Monzel and Greg Hartmann said the county can't afford a full year and said they will instead recommend giving the raises mid-year. The raises would stay in effect for a full year from 2017 on, but awarding only a half-year raise now would save about $1 million in 2016.
"The dollars only allow us to fund it for half the year at this time," Hartmann said.
Commissioner Todd Portune, a Democrat, said the $200 million general fund budget is large enough to accommodate a full-year pay raise. He said staff cuts and frozen wages helped balance the budget in the aftermath of the recession, and it's time now to help the county's more than 2,000 employees catch up.
Employees have not had a full-year raise in almost a decade and have received two half-year raises since the recession. If commissioners opt for the half-year raise, workers would see it in their paychecks sometime in July, rather than January.
"We've relied heavily on employee sacrifice," Portune said. "To do only a half-year raise would be a real kick in the teeth."
The difference of opinion between Portune and his GOP colleagues centers on how to use the expected $4 million coming to the county from the Horseshoe Casino. Portune wants most of that money to supplement the general fund budget, while Monzel and Hartmann want it to go toward the county's stadium fund.
Monzel and Hartmann say the casino money is a safety net in case the sales tax collections that pay for the stadiums lag next year. When collections slowed in the run-up to the recession, the county had to reduce a promised property tax rollback to pay the stadium bills.
Lately, though, sales tax collections have been rising. They're up more than 6 percent this year compared to 2014.
The budget takes a conservative approach to the sales tax, in part because the county got burned in the past, by projecting an increase of just 1 percent next year. If the casino money goes to the stadium fund instead of the general fund, there's less money available for employee raises.
Monzel said playing it safe next year makes sense, even if it means employees don't get a full-year raise. "Our crystal balls aren't perfect," he said. "We've done very conservative budgeting, and that's served us well."
Commissioners expect to vote on a final budget next week.
