County Workers Get 1.5% Pay Adjustment

Washtenaw County employees who have taken unpaid “banked leave” days in 2012 will be getting a one-time payment that’s equivalent to 1.5% of their salaries, following action by the county board of commissioners at its Dec. 5, 2012 meeting. The average payment will be about $800 and will affect 940 of the county’s 1,321 employees. The adjustment – a total increase of $361,000 – was included as part of the 2013 budget, which commissioners also approved on Dec. 5. The vote on the pay adjustment was 10-1, with dissent from Dan Smith (R-District 2), who referred to it as a bonus.

According to a staff memo, the majority of union workers and all non-union employees took 10 banked leave days in 2012, or the equivalent of a 3.85% salary decrease. Banked leave days are unpaid, but don’t affect retirement calculations. Most of the unions representing county employees had agreed to cuts during previous contract negotiations, as the county worked to eliminate a budget deficit caused in large part by declining property tax revenues.

However, decreases in property tax revenues were not as dire as originally projected – a decline of 0.77%, compared to a projected 5% decrease.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]