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Johnson County Council approves 2026 budget guidelines to implement salary-study recommendations
Summary
At a special July meeting, the Johnson County Council approved 2026 budget guidelines adopting recommendations from a Wagner, Erwin & Shealy salary study, including one-time $1,000 stipends, a temporary hiring freeze and specific salary-calculation rules for multiple job classes.
Johnson County Council approved 2026 budget guidelines at a special July meeting, adopting recommendations from a Wagner, Erwin & Shealy salary study and setting procedures for department budget submissions due July 25, 2025.
The guidelines aim to address internal pay inequities identified in the WIS salary study by establishing internal base salaries for job classifications, providing one-time stipends where indicated, and freezing new position hires for 2026 with limited exceptions. Council members said the guidance is for initial planning and is subject to further review at budget hearings.
Vice President Michelle Ann Graves, who presented the guidelines, said, "these are guidelines and do not oblige the council to any department request," and emphasized departments must review 2025 salary data used in the study. The council asked directors and elected officials to confirm special pay items that should be included in 2025 total pay before the July 25 submission deadline.
Under the adopted rules, when an employee's 2025 salary exceeds the study's internal base salary column, no base increase is made and the employee receives a one-time $1,000 stipend. If the 2025 salary is below the internal base, the 2026 salary is set at the internal base; if the cost to reach that base is under $1,000, the difference will be paid as a one-time stipend. The council also instructed departments to round budget numbers to whole dollars and said an updated example will be emailed to departments.
The guidelines specify different calculation approaches by classification: civilian categories (LTC, PAT, COMOT) use the study's internal base; sheriff's-office attorneys, special occupations, executive and poll-merit categories use an external midpoint salary column; chief deputies are to be set at 285% of the elected-official average salary; and elected officials use the external average salary from the WIS study. The county will address the coroner, surveyor, assessor and sheriff as individual exceptions.
On probation officers, the council directed use of the 2026 minimum salary schedule adopted by the Judicial Conference of Indiana to determine 2026 pay; the presentation noted Johnson County has historically set probation salaries higher than that minimum and cited compliance with IC 36-2-16.5-3. The council clarified that its decision this year does not obligate future councils to pay above the Judicial Conference minimum.
Council members debated a temporary hiring freeze for 2026 and its purpose. Council member John Dittmers said he favors moving over time to a performance-based pay system but noted that would require a dedicated human-resources director and “would be very difficult to pull off” in the short term. Vice President Graves and others said the hiring freeze is intended to protect current employees if anticipated state changes (referred to in the meeting as "SB 1") affect county finances in later years.
Procedural items and next steps were confirmed: budget submissions are due July 25, 2025; all one-time stipends will be recorded in the council’s budget (not individual department salary lines); the auditor will compute stipend amounts automatically; and departments should send questions by email to the council president with copies to Michelle Graves and the county legal team, Tiffany Costley and Taylor Webster. The council voted to accept the guidelines in a voice vote and the motion passed without recorded opposition.
During public comment, Sheena Johnson, court administrator, asked whether stipends should be entered as a separate line item; the council replied stipends will be managed centrally in the council’s budget rather than in each department’s salary lines. The meeting closed with the council noting the guidelines remain subject to amendment during the formal budget-review process.
What happened next: officials said council staff will email corrected examples and the guideline document to departments, and council members will review submitted budgets before first reading.
