WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Council recently approved salary increases for the county administrator and clerk to council, though votes to do so were not unanimous.
At the Aug. 12 meeting, council members voted 4-2 to increase the pay of County Administrator Jason Taylor by 5 percent. In 2018, Taylor received a 3.44 percent increase.
The council also voted to give Davis a 2 percent raise.
Council members Douglas Pauley and Moses Bell voted against the increases. Councilman Mikel Trapp left the meeting prior to the vote.
There was no discussion after the votes and the meeting adjourned.
Reached by phone this past Monday, Pauley said his nay vote was not a reflection on either Taylor or Davis.
Pauley said they’re both excellent employees, but noted Taylor and Davis already had received a 3 percent cost of living adjustment, or COLA, along with most other county employees in the 2019-2020 budget.
The only exception was the sheriff’s office, whose employees received 6 percent.
“I don’t like that they [Taylor and Davis] were compensated in the COLA raise, and then the council chose to vote for an additional raise,” Pauley said. “Last year we did a merit based system. That’s what I wanted to do this year.”
Taylor’s base pay prior to July 1 was $129,297.52. The combined COLA and merit raises totaling 8 percent translates to $10,343.80, which would elevate Taylor’s pay to $139,641.32.
Taylor’s base pay is slightly below the U.S. median of $142,674 for county administrators, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the International City/County Management Association, or ICMA
The ICMA study found that the median salary rose 2.3 percent from 2018, and that more than 81 percent of county administrators received a merit raise, COLA or combination of both.
Just one man’s opinion, and for what it’s worth. When you have quality people who go the extra mile on a daily basis. And you are really interested in keeping the bar set high with motivated intelligent people. I believe incentivizing them is a very good thing, and sometimes you have to put your money where your intentions are. If you start at the top with the qualified people it will trickle down. Patty Davis is a very good employee. One I think certainly deserves a raise. Jason Taylor is a serious focused honorable man. We don’t always agree on every issue but, he has the professional and proactive mindset and the general knowledge of what and how to do things that will improve the county and the lives of its citizens. If you want to keep these people, Make them happy. And nothing makes a worker happy then occasion phraise, a challenge to rise to, and a paycheck that says Ca`ching I’m appreciated.
Until Council establishes a robust and objective appraisal format, we and they can not really know the true value of the administrator; nor can he reach his true potential.
I agree with Jeff except we will never know the true value or potential of the clerk and the administrator until Council implements a robust and objective annual appraisal process which contains previously establish goals and metrics.