Commissioners divided on bonuses for Madison Co. workers
JACKSON, Tenn.–Madison County employees have not received a pay raise in two years, and bonuses this year are still up in the air. “We’ve been giving excuses for too long and we have not been appreciating them,” Commissioner Claudell Brown said. Two years ago, county leaders say deputies at the Madison County Sheriff‘s Office got a 4 percent raise, and other workers got between a 1.25 and 2.5 percent raise. “It’s not as much as it probably maybe should be as far as inflation,” Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris said. Brown says it would not be unreasonable for employees to get a 5 to 7 percent raise. “People have been leaving because they’re being underpaid and in this instance, underappreciated,” he said. In June, commissioners approved a $750 bonus for full-time employees and a $250 bonus for part time workers. Last week they agreed to hold on to the money for now and have the personnel committee and department heads meet about the issue. “I think some employees are due a larger raise than others,” Mayor Harris said. Commissioner Doug Stephenson says he wants department heads and elected officials to decide who gets raises. “Our job is to give them the money and let them do what they feel best,” Stephenson said. “They know their employees better than we do.” Commissioners set aside more than $300,000 for bonuses this year. They plan to revisit the issue in August.
