MONROE - The Green County Board Tuesday approved a 1-percent wage increase for department heads and non-union employees, a hike similar to one granted unionized employees in their recent contract, say officials.
"We took care of them (non-union county employees) at about the same rate," said County Board Chairman Arthur Carter.
The move follows approval - at the board's last meeting - of a three-year contract for the county's unionized employees, Carter said Tuesday.
The new union contract runs through 2013, Carter said, and will likely include incremental wage increases during each year of the pact. Those wage hikes are anticipated to be slightly higher in subsequent years of the contract's life. As a result, Carter said he anticipates that non-unionized county employees will see similar increases, perhaps as high as 1.5 percent, in subsequent years.
County employees received no wage hike for 2010-2011, he added.
The wage hike won't be passed directly on to taxpayers in future tax bills, Carter said, saying the county has reserves to draw from and is expected to see compensation-related savings from its recent switch of health insurance providers. The county used to be self-insured, but recently agreed to start purchasing health insurance for its employees from the state, he said.
Employees are offered the most economical insurance offered by the state, but can opt to upgrade at additional cost to the individual worker, he said. Similarly, savings from the insurance switch is likely to help recover future wage increases for all county employees - union and non-union - over the next few years, Carter added.
The wage deal approved Tuesday covers roughly 60 to 80 county employees, said Green County Clerk Mike Doyle.
In another matter, the city approved human services contracts totaling nearly $2 million for 11 agencies that work with the county to address social service needs. Of the almost $2 million in contracts approved Tuesday, only about $350,000 is actually paid from county coffers. The rest, said Green County Human Services Director Greg Holcomb, is funded by the state.
The contracts cover only those more than $75,000 within the roughly $10 million county human services budget, Holcomb said.
Among the contracts approved Tuesday: A pact with the Green County Center on Aging for just more than $400,000 for senior-related services. Another contractor, Lutheran Social Services, also was awarded just less than $140,000 for its role in providing "intensive, in-home" care to troubled youth, said Holcomb.
Another top recipient is Family Works, a residential treatment facility for children.
Overall, the amount of human services funding handled by the county has decreased steadily in recent years, Holcomb said, as the state and private entities have taken over those duties from individual counties.
"Since the county got out of the human care business, we definitely spend a lot less money," he said.
"We took care of them (non-union county employees) at about the same rate," said County Board Chairman Arthur Carter.
The move follows approval - at the board's last meeting - of a three-year contract for the county's unionized employees, Carter said Tuesday.
The new union contract runs through 2013, Carter said, and will likely include incremental wage increases during each year of the pact. Those wage hikes are anticipated to be slightly higher in subsequent years of the contract's life. As a result, Carter said he anticipates that non-unionized county employees will see similar increases, perhaps as high as 1.5 percent, in subsequent years.
County employees received no wage hike for 2010-2011, he added.
The wage hike won't be passed directly on to taxpayers in future tax bills, Carter said, saying the county has reserves to draw from and is expected to see compensation-related savings from its recent switch of health insurance providers. The county used to be self-insured, but recently agreed to start purchasing health insurance for its employees from the state, he said.
Employees are offered the most economical insurance offered by the state, but can opt to upgrade at additional cost to the individual worker, he said. Similarly, savings from the insurance switch is likely to help recover future wage increases for all county employees - union and non-union - over the next few years, Carter added.
The wage deal approved Tuesday covers roughly 60 to 80 county employees, said Green County Clerk Mike Doyle.
In another matter, the city approved human services contracts totaling nearly $2 million for 11 agencies that work with the county to address social service needs. Of the almost $2 million in contracts approved Tuesday, only about $350,000 is actually paid from county coffers. The rest, said Green County Human Services Director Greg Holcomb, is funded by the state.
The contracts cover only those more than $75,000 within the roughly $10 million county human services budget, Holcomb said.
Among the contracts approved Tuesday: A pact with the Green County Center on Aging for just more than $400,000 for senior-related services. Another contractor, Lutheran Social Services, also was awarded just less than $140,000 for its role in providing "intensive, in-home" care to troubled youth, said Holcomb.
Another top recipient is Family Works, a residential treatment facility for children.
Overall, the amount of human services funding handled by the county has decreased steadily in recent years, Holcomb said, as the state and private entities have taken over those duties from individual counties.
"Since the county got out of the human care business, we definitely spend a lot less money," he said.