The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors decided on a fiscal year 2017 pay increase for County employees, Tuesday morning.

Supervisor Jerry Caraher, who made a motion for a zero-percent pay increase last week, told his colleagues he had a change of heart, before making a motion for a 2.5% pay increase. “There’s some people here, I’m not saying names and they’re not in this room, but some people don’t need raises and some people do. That’s just the way the system works. I know the Compensation Board recommended a 5% raise, and I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit, and considering what we all do, I’ll make a motion to cut the Compensation Board’s recommendation in half and give a 2.5% raise.”

That motion passed 3-2, with Caraher, Tom Rutledge and Clifford Carney all voting ‘aye.’ Mike Dickson and Everett Grasty voted ‘nay.’

When the Compensation Board gave their recommendation in December, one concern they had were relatively low wages for dispatchers who work with life and death situations, compared to dispatcher wages in nearby or similarly-sized counties.

Sheriff Marty Arganbright tells Raccoon Valley Radio that he would like more control over distributing income within his department, believing a pay gap between many of his employees and himself is growing each year. “There’s getting to be an income gap between the department head, myself, and the dispatchers, jailers and our civil clerk and I need to find some way to get that gap closed up.”

Arganbright adds that Guthrie County residents receive two services for the price of one with his dispatchers and he believes they are worth more than they are paid. “The dispatchers are also certified jailers. They do several jail checks during their shift and they have to be certified to do that.”

The pay increase for all County employees will go into effect July 1st.