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Vigo County clerk's office asks council to move staff to Baker Tilly midpoint to curb turnover
Summary
Chief deputy clerk Elizabeth Stiverson told the Vigo County Council the clerk's office seeks pay adjustments to reach midpoint levels from the Baker Tilly study, citing eight years of turnover and recent retention gains tied to prior raises; the office said the requested raise would cost less than hiring two new clerks.
Elizabeth Stiverson, chief deputy clerk for the Vigo County Clerk's Office, asked the Vigo County Council to approve pay adjustments moving clerk staff to the midpoint levels from the Baker Tilly pay study, saying the change is needed to retain trained employees and avoid repeated turnover.
"We're requesting that, our all of our clerk staff get moved to the midpoint level from the Baker Tilly study," Stiverson said. She told the council that the clerk's office has gone through 92 employees since 2017 and that 27 of those left for other county offices — about 30% of departures.
Stiverson said the clerk staff currently average $22.71 an hour. She described court reporter pay and the gap that will result from recently approved court staff raises: court reporter A is expected to make $30.87 an hour after raises she referenced, leaving clerks about $5.62 an hour behind court reporters even after the requested midpoint adjustment.
She proposed that, rather than hiring two additional clerks for a newly opened magistrate court, the office will stretch current staff if their pay is moved to midpoint; Stiverson said hiring two new clerks would cost $87,915.27 each (including salary, FICA, PERF and family health insurance), or $175,830.54 total, which she said is $4,490.31 more than giving the requested raises.
Stiverson also said the clerk's office invests bond and other held funds in certificates of deposit and that CD returns in 2024 were $51,721.86 and $34,227.56 in 2023; the 2025 CD return was estimated at $31,500 and those returns go back to the county general fund rather than the clerk's office budget.
Council members asked for verification of midpoint numbers and whether the appropriation request would be sufficient to cover costs; staff said the appropriation would cover the requested adjustments. No formal council vote on this appropriation was recorded in the provided transcript.
Stiverson asked the council to consider elected-official pay separately; she said adjustments to elected officers were not made in the earlier study and likely require separate action during budget season.
