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At a budget meeting on April 7, the town board heard from Town Manager Josh Ward, who said he reviews the Consumer Price Index each year.
With employees harder and harder to come by, the Highlands Town Board of Commissioners is exploring a possible cost of living adjustment for its employees.
At a budget meeting on April 7, the town board heard from Town Manager Josh Ward, who said he reviews the Consumer Price Index each year.
“Each year, I review the Consumer Price Index to determine a proposal for the annual Cost of Living Adjustment,” Ward said. “WIth the issue of inflation building for the past 12 months, the CPI is higher than I have ever seen it. Currently, the 12 month is up 8.4 percent. The CPI has been at or above 5.6 percent since May of 2021. On a typical year, the increase would be between 0-3 percent.”
Ward went on to break down the proposed COLA increases from three to six percent.
A three percent increase would be $98,640, while a four percent increase would be $131,520. A five percent increase would be $164,400 and a six percent increase would be $194,500.
“In my opinion, the most critical part of this year’s COLA increase is to retain our current employees and attract new employees when we have openings,” Ward said. “Due to the lack of workforce over the last couple of years, current salaries across the board are trending higher to attract workers. Recently, we experienced the departure of our wastewater plant ORC, due in part to a higher salary offer. Recently, Macon County increased the pay for sheriff’s department positions. Salary increases like these make it more difficult for the Town of Highlands to recruit those candidates to travel up the mountain. My recommendation would be to select either the five or six percent COLA for the upcoming year.”
Commissioner Amy Patterson asked Ward how long it had been since there was a salary study for town employees.
“If we just do percentage increases, people on the bottom end of the scale get further and further away from the people on the top end of the scale because of the percentage increase,” Patterson said. “It has been a while since we have done a study.”
Ward said it had been six years since the last study, but they are looking to perform one when the market levels out.
“Typically we do one every 10 years,” Ward said. “We are getting in that range. I feel like we are pretty close with our salary ranges because we have done those salary studies every 10 years.”
Highlands finance director Rebecca Schuler said a lot of municipalities in the region used COVID ARPA funds to use towards COLA increases.
“The county was able to use some of that COVID pay to give their employees that pay increase,” Schuler said.
The plan for Macon County includes giving each employee $2 for every hour worked from April 26, 2021, through Oct. 20, 2024, excluding sick and vacation days. According to meeting documents, the payments will be seven lump sums delivered in six-month increments.
Full-time employees could receive a $2,160 bonus every six months if they work 40 hours per week. That’s roughly $15,000 total after all seven payments. Part-time staff who work 20 hours for six months could receive $1,080, adding up to $7,560 total by December 2024.
The one-year cost of the bonuses is nearly $1.97 million, and the total cost is roughly $6.88 million, which would leave Macon County with only about $76,400 leftover ARPA money.
Ward said the county was able to do that because of the larger amount in ARPA funding they received.
“They have a tremendous amount of COVID money, I think around $16 million,” Ward said. “Where we received $313,000. They were able to use it a lot differently.”
Patterson asked another question regarding which employees the town has the most problems retaining, but Ward said it is all across the board.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ward said. “It is all the way from police officers to wastewater plant operators to sanitation. It’s all across the board.”
Highlands Police chief Andrea Holland said they have been blessed to not have to beg for officers, but with three retiring in the next three years, she is worried how long the blessing will last.
“So far, we have been very blessed to, for lack of a better word, want anyone because we have been blessed that they have come to us,” Holland said. “I have had to reach out to a couple and offer an increase in pay, but we also have the 30 minute drive to work, when they can work for Macon County Sheriff’s Department and literally crawl out of their bed and check their radio. They go out their back door and they are at work. Our concerns are, in the future, are we still going to be blessed if we are not offering more than other agencies?”
Commissioner Jon “Buz” Dotson said the town should do flat money instead of percentages.
“I think five percent as an incentive to stay for two years, and you have to wait to get that, people aren’t going to stay,” Dotson said. “I think you ought to come in making the money that it takes to live, and I’m hardcore Republican.”
Patterson said that most people will say their employees are their most valuable asset.
“If that is the case, we need to make sure that we can retain and attract people that are essential to what we do,” Patterson said.
The conversation ended with town staff having to collect more information on salaries.
- By Christopher Lugo