Madison County council approves merit-officer pay framework, hiring freeze and one-time employee bonus

The Madison County Council voted Thursday to approve a framework to fund a proposed pay increase for merit officers, to impose an immediate countywide hiring freeze pending personnel-board guidance, and to pay a one-time 5% bonus to most county employees.

Council President Green presented the council's funding proposal for merit officers, saying, "I'm proposing is that we issue a 21% raise for our merit officers for 2026." He framed the plan as a compromise that would require contributions from multiple parties and short-term use of county reserves.

The plan as explained by Green and county staff would split the cost across the sheriff's department, the county commissioners and the council. Green told colleagues the salary increase alone would total about $527,245 a year and, with a reduced benefits contribution, about $584,000 per year; over two years that amounted to roughly $1.17 million. Green said the council's portion — after a proposed $300,000 contribution from the sheriff's commissary and a proposed $600,000 release of interest by the commissioners — would be about $369,192 (including FICA), or roughly $185,000 per year for two years.

Commissioner Garner described a legal mechanism for using interest earned during the tax-collection holding period and gave an illustrative calculation showing roughly $683,000…