Franklin County approves 750 dollar bonus for county workers (amended)

Please note: this story has been changed since first posted. The original story said the bonuses were for county commission employees only. The bonuses will be given to ALL county workers including those working for constitutional officers. I apologize for the mistake.

             
County workers will get a nice surprise in their next paycheck.

The Franklin County Commission approved a 750 dollar bonus for each county employee on Tuesday.

That includes all workers in county departments like the landfill and road camp as well as workers for constitutional officers like the sheriff' department and Clerk of Court.

The board said the one-time bonus will cost the county about 145 thousand dollar which they will take from reserve for contingency.

Commissioners felt the bonus was justified because it has been years since county workers have had a raise and Commissioner Bevin Putnal said that is having a devastating effect on morale.

Many county workers are also doing more than they were the last time they got a pay increase because the county has had a hiring freeze in effect since 2007 as a way to meet tighter budget realities.

The decision to give bonuses was a surprise.

Commission Chairman Pinki Jackel was certainly caught off guard.

She wanted to delay the vote until the next meeting just to find out what the bonuses would cost, but had to settle for a vote at the end of Tuesday’s meeting to give the budget office a few hours to research the plan.

Miss Jackel did vote for the bonuses along with the other three commissioners at the meeting.

Smokey Parrish was away on county business.

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