Monday, November 24, 2003
The number of pay weeks in 2004 is different from usual.
MERCER, Pa. -- The county commissioners squelched a rumor that some employees would be shorted a week's pay next year.
In 2004, there will be 27 pay weeks instead of the usual 26 weeks. An anonymous flier stated that salaried employees would simply have their annual salary divided by 27 instead of by 26, in effect losing a week's pay.
Several officeholders told commissioners at Thursday's meeting that they will not ask their employees to work the extra week unless they are properly compensated.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor said, "No one is asking anyone to work without compensation. Let us work through this [budget] process, and we will make sure everyone is fairly compensated for the hours they put in."
Commissioners Gene Brenneman and Kenneth Seamans also insisted that no one will be shorted.
Cost to county
The extra week's pay will cost the county $100,000, said Tresa Templeton, county fiscal director.
She said, however, that in the budget estimate a cost-of-living increase for salaried employees had been projected at 3 percent for 2004. But the Consumer Price Index is actually only 2 percent or less, she said, so the increase will be reduced, and there will be money available to pay for the extra week.
Commissioners also unanimously accepted the bid of Woodring Detective Bureau, Sandy Lake, to provide security services next year to the county domestic relations office.
Woodring's, which provides the service, submitted the only bid. It will do the job for $14.60 per hour, a 5-percent increase over this year. The increase amounts to $1,274, and the state reimburses the county for two-thirds of the cost.
Agreements
Commissioners approved an agreement with Barbara Jones, Sharon, to provide janitorial services at the district court office, Farrell, for $2,500 per year.
In other business, commissioners entered into an agreement with Steel City Housing Partnership, Phase I, a housing project in Farrell.
Under the agreement, the publicly funded development will voluntarily pay taxes to the county, school district and borough in an effort to help the community. The county will receive $46 per year for each of the 53 housing units.
Commissioners also congratulated the Family Intervention Center on its 10-year anniversary. The center has cut juvenile crime recidivism in a high-crime area of Sharon and Farrell from 50 percent to less than 10 percent, an achievement which Lazor said makes it "the most successful program we have seen developed in the county in the last 10 years."