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Personnel committee backs bilingual pay as stipend, approves emergency appropriation recommendation
Summary
The McHenry County Board of Health Personnel Committee voted to recommend a resolution to continue bilingual pay as a stipend rather than embed it in base pay; the committee approved specific rates and will forward the appropriation to the Board of Health for final approval.
The McHenry County Board of Health Personnel Committee on Oct. 22 voted to recommend that bilingual pay for county interpreters and translators be continued as a stipend and to forward a resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation to the Board of Health.
Ken (staff member) told the committee that county finance recommended keeping bilingual pay as a separately reported stipend rather than adding it into employees' base pay because embedding pay in base salary complicates grant accounting and ARPA reporting. "Finance... are recommending that we stick with a stipend," Ken said.
Committee discussion focused on how to set the stipend and whether to pay it biweekly or as a lump sum. Staff proposed increasing the per-instance/ hourly stipend to $32.50 for interpreters and $1,600 for translators starting in fiscal year 2025 to account for the loss of merit increases if the pay remained a stipend. Ken described scenarios and said the department has budgeted ARPA dollars to cover the stipend through 2026 and that the intent is for the stipend to continue after ARPA funds expire.
Committee members asked for specifics on headcount and recent costs. Ken reported that there are 24 interpreters and 3 translators on the department list and that the bilingual-pay line paid $23,009.25 in 2023. Staff said finance and the county administrator would confirm final totals and appropriation language before the full board consideration.
The committee moved to recommend the resolution to the Board of Health. The motion ("to approve the resolution authorizing emergency appropriation of the Department of Health 2024 budget regarding bilingual pay") was made by Miss Althoff and seconded by Miss Morawski. During the voice roll call the members recorded as voting yes were Mister Morrison, Miss Altaq, Miss Carmen and Miss Morawski; the motion passed.
Staff said the recommended resolution will go next to the county's Public Health and Community Services committee, then to finance, then to the Board of Health; staff plans to have the item before the board in November so ARPA appropriations are in place before December.
