Commissioners Agree to Step Pay for 911 Dispatchers

At their June 3^rd meeting, the Pocahontas Commissioners made a decision regarding the request made at their May 20^th meeting by EMS/911 Director Michael O’Brien, for them to adopt a step-based pay system that recognizes dispatchers’ years of service, certifications, and training.  That pay scale uses three telecom levels -depending upon certifications- with merit steps within each of those levels. This system is designed to reward merit and longevity, and recognizes the shift work and holidays dispatchers have to work, as well as the critical importance of their jobs.

Although they made no decision at that prior meeting; at the June 3^rd meeting the commissioners voted to increase dispatcher’s pay by an additional $2000.00 a year, which is in addition to the annual increases given to all county employees, and then convert to the recommended step-based pay system. This will move towards keeping 911 dispatchers pay somewhat competitive with other counties. They also voted to raise the salary of the Deputy Director of 911/EMS by $3,000 per year and the Director’s salary by $4,000 per year, which are both also in addition to the annual increases given to all county employees.

Rebinski said he likes the idea of rewarding employees for effort and taking extra training, so would not be opposed to setting up a merit/step-based pay scale for other county agencies, and suggested those agencies start to develop such a pay plan, although those would probably not be able to go into effect until the 2026-2027 fiscal year.

It should be noted that in our May 20^th commission meeting story about this issue, we incorrectly stated that new dispatchers and ones who have been on the job for many years, currently receive the same $13.50 per-hour pay. While the $13.50 per-hour pay rate is the approximate starting hourly rate for new dispatchers, that does increase with longevity.

The commissioners also opened a bid received in response to their advertisement to purchase a replacement police pursuit cruiser for the Sheriff’s Department. It was from Brannen Motor Company of Unadilla, Georgia.  The commissioners, and Sheriff McCoy approved that bid to purchase a 2025 cruiser for $56,990. Sheriff McCoy has $60,000 in his department’s budget to pay for this, but asked the commissioners to also consider providing a minimum $25,000 for the purchase and installation of the additional equipment that needs to be installed in the new cruiser, including the light bar, radio, etc. The commissioners said they will consider approving either an in-house budget revision or paying for it out of general funds, if necessary, but wants to see specific items and prices before making a decision.

They also discussed creating a formal hiring policy for the county. County Clerk Melissa Bennett said the Auditor’s Office suggested this. Bennet said she is working on this for her office, but suggested the commissioners work with the County Prosecutor to ensure any county policy does not infringe on elected officials’ hiring prerogatives.

They discussed, in general terms, issues of placing a time clock and the handling of cash receipts at the Day Report Center. They are considering moving an unused time clock from the County Clerk’s Office to Day Report, and requiring all payments to Day Report to be paid at the County Tax Office.

During the Hear Callers, Jan McNeel expressed concern that last fall, the then County Prosecutor demanded she submit estate paperwork within 30 days of her husband’s death, she called this- “tortuous interference” (which is also known as intentional interference.) Melissa Bennett said she would look into that, but they always give at least 90 days with possible extensions before referring an estate to the County Prosecutor. McNeel also said she is also concerned that medics providing free Narc-an to drug addicts only encourages them to not worry about overdosing, and that jail sentencing is too light for drug offenders.

Also, at the meeting the commissioners approved:

• The payment of Resolution #9 for the EPA Tannery Project of $8.692.88 to pay invoices.
• The payment of Resolution #10 for the PMH HVAC Project of $539,781.45 for equipment. Region 4’s Donna Ward said the units are now on the roof and the project is 75% complete.
• They certified the Assessors Office’s personal property records and land books.
• And they approved year-end budget revisions and resolutions.