UPDATE 1:15pm April 28 – After our story published, Johnston County Manager Rick Hester said Commissioners did not approve pay increases for themselves and it will be addressed later during the budget. However, there was no discussion among Commissioners in the April 18 public meeting to remove their salary increases from the Study. The Study was approved 7-to-0 as it was presented by the Human Resources Director.
The attachment in the link below is documentation from Johnston County Human Resources that was sent to Johnston County Report on April 26, eight days after the public meeting. The report provided to us includes salary increases for all seven commissioners.
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Some Salary Increases Top 42 Percent
Some County Employees Will Receive No Increase
Commissioners Approve Pay Raises For Themselves
Hundreds of Johnston County employees will receive a pay increase May 1, 2022 after Johnston County Commissioners unanimously approved a 2022 Salary Study. Others employees will receive no increase at all.
At their April 18th meeting, commissioners approved spending $6.5 million to cover the cost of the higher salaries this year. It will be a recurring expense every year. The cost does not include fringe benefits.
Earlier this year, Commissioners requested the Human Resources Department conduct a salary study to maintain competitive salaries for all county departments, including Environmental Health and Emergency Services. Those positions are often hard to fill.
The Environmental Health Department is approximately 16 weeks behind in performing septic tank applications and has several vacancies. Emergency Services also has EMT vacancies and the department needs to keep up with higher salaries being paid by Wake County to their paramedics. Other departments will also benefit from the study, including Social Services and Public Utilities.
The salary increases were made based on the position/title in the study.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A SUMMARY OF AVERAGE SALARY INCREASES BY POSITION/TITLE
For example, the Library Director who had made $72,828 will receive a 30.5% pay increase to $95,040.54. The Library Supervisor will receive a 36.02% salary increase from $40,330.32 to $54,857.44.
The Nutritional Program Director will receive a 23.94% salary increase from $64,436.76 to $79,862.92. Nutritionist I, II, and II employees will all receive 23.94 percent salary increases.
The Chief Wastewater Plant Operator will be paid 20.08% more beginning May 1st, from $56,222.40 to $67,511.86. The Circulation Supervisor will receive 30.45% more, from $33,342.20 to $43,485.16.
The Construction Foreman position, which had been paid $54,797.60 will receive a 23.57% increase in pay to $67.713.39. The Social Services Director will receive a 12.28% salary jump from $122,168.88 to $137,171.22.
The study includes a 22.87% salary increase for the Deputy Director of Emergency Services from $104,720.28 to $128,669.81. Many EMS employees will receive an average 19.33% salary increase, including EMT Basic, Assistant Chief, Battalion Chief, Captain, Community Paramedic, Division Chief, Lieutenant, Logistics Officer, Support Services, and Training Officer.
EMT Paramedics making an average salary of $44,136.21 will now be paid $62,761.69, a 42 percent increase. The EMS Division Chief, who had been paid $94,040.52 will be paid 22.87% more, or $115.547.59.
The Johnston County Planning Director will be paid $106,018.43 after receiving a 10.72% increase.
Many Social Workers will see an average increase of 6.62%. For example, a Social Worker II, which had been paid an average of $48,272.84 will now make $51,468.50.
In Environmental Health, a Social Scientist I will be paid about 25.12% more. Their salaries will increase as high as $85,465.97, up from an average of $68,307.20.
The Register of Deeds will receive an increase from $107,100 to $114,682.68. No other Register of Deeds employees will see an increase in their salaries.
In the Tax Office, the Tax Collections Manager will receive a 14.98% salary increase from $69,469.32 to $79,875.82. However, the Tax Assistant, Tax Collections Coordinator, Tax Computer Analyst, Tax Customer Service Representative, Tax Technician and Tax System Analyst/Programmer will not receive an increase.
The Technology Services Director will receive $138,430.38 after getting a 20.65% salary increase from $114,737.16. Johnston County Telecommunicators will receive a 2.09% increase.
Water Plant Operators A, B, and C will receive 14.87 percent increases.
(Please note these are “average” salaries for the position/title and may vary by individual employee.)
County Commissioners Pay Increase
Johnston County Commissioners voted unanimously to increase their own salaries. Commissioners Tony Braswell, Ted Godwin, Fred Smith, Patrick Harris, R.D. “Dickie” Braswell, and April Stephens voted to increase their annual salary 7.44 percent from $16,048.60 to $17,242.83. Commissioner Butch Lawter voted to increase his salary as Board Chair from $17,653.80 to $20,294.81, a 14.96 percent increase this year.
Next Salary Study In 2023
After approving the $6.5 million in raises, the Board directed Human Resource Director Lu Hickey to conduct a salary study every year to make sure all county positions remain competitive with surrounding government agencies. 50 percent of all county positions will be reviewed again in 2023. The remaining 50 percent of the positions will be reviewed in 2024.
“Thanks to the Board of Commissioners for their support of the recent pay grade/compensation study. Implementation of this plan will better position the County in retaining current team members, and in hiring new employees,” County Manager Rick Hester said this week. (Mr. Hester did not receive a salary increase.)
Commissioner Patrick Harris said, “I think this is a great start and something that needs to be done to take care of our employees.”
There are approximately 1,350 full time county employees. Officials did not have an exact number of employees who would be receiving the pay raises May 1. The study did not include Johnston County Public Schools positions.
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This story has been updated
Let them all know what you think about voting themselves a raise at the polls.
What about teachers ? This is stupid. Vote them out.
they are state employees// not county
All bus drivers, custodians, ta,teachers need to walk out now!!
As a county employee, I just received a $1.20 more of a raise this past February..So I’m not going to complain.
Article is about county employees, not state employees (school personal).
So the people that actually work Is not getting anything.
Teachers are not county employees. Educate yourself before spouting off.
Commissioners approve of them all getting raises. But don’t want to release money for the school. That’s what their talking about
2% raise for the 911/sheriff’s office dispatchers is a disgrace. They work 12 hour shifts helping the citizens of the county 24/7, through natural disasters, major wrecks on the multiple highways that flow through the county, and throughout the pandemic. They communicate with citizens daily, getting them the help they need on what is often the worse day of many peoples lives. The average length of training to even become a dispatcher takes at minimum six months and includes being certified in Emergency Medical Dispatch (to include being CPR certified), Emergency Police Dispatch, and Emergency Fire Dispatch. Additionally, they must learn to be masters of multitasking in order to take a 911 call, speaking on the radio, and annotate everything into their computer accurately or face disciplinary action.
Compared to surrounding counties/agencies who are also struggling to maintain employees (Wake County especially), Johnston County dispatchers are the fourth lowest paid but yet serve more citizens than other surrounding counties. Furthermore, Johnston County has experienced huge growth in both residential housing builds and in new companies establishing themselves in the county. Both of which bring in a substantial amount of new revenue.
Yet, all that growth and new found wealth is being spent elsewhere. Granted, they are building a new 911 Center but that has been budgeted and discussed for the past several fiscal years.
Meanwhile, Johnston County dispatchers work in the basement of the courthouse, with minimal natural light filtering in, dealing with cockroaches in the bathroom, trying to serve the citizens of Johnston County all the while contemplating how they are going to support their families.
2.09% doesn’t even cover the rise of cost of living or inflation.
https://abc11.com/raleigh-public-safety-911-call-center-emergency-job-vacancies/11780759/
Elect officials should never have the power to VOTE their SELFS a RAISE 👎 We the People should decide that 🙂Shame on yourself commissioners 👎
The fact that 911 Dispatchters were only given 2.09% is an absolute disgrace. Looking at the 2021 Johnston County Pay chart, on average Senior Telecommunicators are only making on average $42,000-46,000, with some making closer to $52,000. However, those making over $50,000 have all been with the county for over 10-15 years. Those making between $42,000-$46,000 have all been employed by the county for at minimum of three plus years because you can only get Senior Telecommunicator after three years. Once you hit that, there is no other career advancement unless an existing supervisor steps down or retires. Those hired within the last three years are only making between $36,000-$40,000 a year.
Given the amount of time (on average six plus months of training) ,certifications (CPR, Emergency Fire Dispatch, Emergency Medical Dispatch, Emergency Police Dispatch, DCI certification), and just amount of information they have to retain on a daily basis (geography regarding the multiple major highways/interstates which run through the county, which agencies handle which jurisdictions), this salary is pathetic. Even more so when you consider during the COVID pandemic and majority of the County was working remotely or operating on different hours, they would forward all call lines to the 911 Center to handle since they are fully staffed 24/7. Even now, all County lines are forwarded to the 911 Center after hours so citizens can at least speak to someone.
Granted, EMS rightfully deserves their raise (especially after all they did during Covid and being forced to use their own sick time if they contracted the virus) but 911 deserves one just as much. When compared with surrounding counties (referencing a recent abc11 report regarding vacancies at Wake 911), Johnston County 911 is the fourth lowest paying agency out of all surrounding counties/agencies in our area. When you consider how much growth the county has undergone in the past few years, despite of COVID restrictions/pauses, look at how many new businesses and new homes have been built all which are generating more revenue for the County.
911 works to serve the citizens of Johnston County 24/7, 365 days a year through all types of events, ranging from hurricanes, winter storms, major accidents which have shut down I40/I95, and throughout the COVID pandemic. These people showed up to work each and every day to serve their community, help those who need help in their most desperate moment.
They aren’t asking for alot, just a fair raise for the work they are currently doing in service of others so they can support themselves and their families. I fear that many will view this as a slap in the face and may potentially leave Johnston County 911 for other higher paying agencies which could negatively affect the citizens of Johnston County.
I urge you to contact your local representative to correct this wrong doing.
Anon your facts are incorrect as this article is incorrect and if all of you would spend more time researching the truth vs just assuming what the news feeds you is correct.
911 received more than was has been reported.
I don’t see ANYTHING on here about the County Board of Elections—the dept needs to hire more staff (one or 2) dedicated to combing through the voter roles and get the dead and inactive names off. They have been SO FAR BEHIND on this, voters don’t trust the process. I don’t want to deny the library any status, but why are they more important that the elections office?
I AM SO OUTRAGED at this news! 20-40+ % raises for ANYONE working for ANY government at this time is absolutely UNCONSCIONABLE!! Oh, and I WILL vote for every OPPONENT of the current board members when their respective times come!!
As a member of the team for Johnston County that keeps the water and sewer flowing.. We get overlooked and overworked on a daily basis.. No One ever speaks of us and how important we are to the actual day to day here in the county. We work long hours,holidays,inclement weather sometimes all night long to get the job done so we can provide customers with clean water and a toilet that will flush. Every job in the county is important not just ours but to be overlooked once again is a hard pill to swallow…. Nothing says we appreciate you for all your hard work like being overlooked.
This article is not correct! This was a pay increase to make employees competitive with surrounding counties, if an employee is already competitive in pay than rightly so they should not get an increase. Anon should spend more time checking facts and not just eating what news media spoon feeds you!
I’m all for pay raises but just to make it competitive to wake county is ridiculous. Do you know how big wake county is and what it takes to keep that place running. We have 6 guys weed eating 1 Ditch bank and yes they work after hours but also get paid for that. Which yes they need to give the guys that are out actually working that raise but the ones in the office need nothing. Planning director in Johnston county does not have the same headaches as wake count planning director Bet they did not compare it to Sampson or duplin county