Tippecanoe County officials are considering the possibility of employee raises in the next budget.
Auditor Jennifer Weston provided the commissioners with cost estimates in increments of 1% with each percent representing $577,529. That includes wages, Social Security and the Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF).
Weston says PERF is increasing more than usual.
“It’s been increasing anywhere from a quarter to a half percent lately, and it’s going up 1.2% (next year),” she says. “Yeah, that’s going to be a big hit for us.”
The commissioners will make a recommendation on salaries next month. It then goes to the county council for a final vote during budget hearings later this year.
Commissioner Dave Byers (R-Dist2) thinks a percentage increase is not the way to go.
“I’m kind of leaning to the side of maybe each employee just gets X amount of dollars, but that’s just me talking right now,” he says. “You have some people making pretty good salaries right now and 1% is a big raise.”
Tippecanoe County set aside $1.1 million for employee raises that took effect this year.