Court approves countywide CPI increases and sets solid waste coordinator pay; magistrates vote against raises

Bracken County Fiscal Court approved a 2.9% cost-of-living increase for county employees for the next fiscal year, and the court also approved a separate pay adjustment that sets the solid waste coordinator position at $17.50 an hour.

Magistrate Craig Miller moved to approve CPI increases for all departments and to set the solid waste coordinator wage at $17.50 per hour; Magistrate Debbie Mayfield seconded the motion. The court voted to approve the motion.

During discussion, the court reviewed department salary tables and state-provided CPI figures of 2.9 percent. The court noted discrepancies in dispatch 911 part-time wages, which staff explained were due to hire dates. The solid waste coordinator role was described in detail: the position enforces the county nuisance ordinance, documents complaints with photographs, follows up on cleanup compliance, may testify in court and manages several grants and the county’s annual solid waste report.

Magistrate Craig Miller explained the arithmetic for hourly and annual salaries. He and others discussed current pay: the solid waste coordinator’s baseline was described in the packet and the recommended $17.50 hourly rate equates to an annual salary of $36,400 based on 40 hours per week.

Separately, Magistrate Kevin Jarrells moved that magistrates not receive a CPI increase; Magistrate Heather Brumby seconded that motion. The court voted to withhold the magistrates’ CPI increase.

The court also approved a training incentive payment for an employee identified by the record as David Kelch in the amount of $3,976.59 and a series of budget transfers and vendor-claims approvals across multiple funds (general, road, jail, senior citizens, dispatch and federal broadband fund). Those vendor-claims and transfers were put on the record and approved by vote (see “Votes at a glance” below).