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Commissioners back 3% employee pay increase; proposes dropping public-defender health benefits to cover cost
Summary
Vigo County commissioners recommended a 3% pay increase costing about $630,000 and proposed funding options that include converting public defenders to contractors and dropping county-paid health insurance — a move public defenders say would harm staffing and forfeit a state reimbursement.
Vigo County commissioners recommended a 3% pay increase for county employees, estimated by a commissioner to cost about $630,000. Commissioner Mike Morris suggested several funding options, including converting public defenders to contractor status and eliminating county-paid health insurance for those positions, which he put at $523,044.72.
A public defender who spoke during the meeting said removing the health insurance benefit would undermine the office’s ability to recruit and retain attorneys and would jeopardize the county’s eligibility for a roughly 40% state reimbursement. “If you take away that health insurance benefit…that would not be beneficial long term for the dollar amount for the county,” the defender said, arguing staffing shortages make the benefit critical to maintaining qualified caseload coverage. Council members asked staff for documentation and for more detail on which offices might eliminate positions to cover the proposed increase.
The discussion produced requests from councilors for detailed printouts and audited figures before any vote. The council did not take action on this item at the meeting and asked staff to supply follow-up paperwork and clarifications on projected revenue and reimbursement calculations.
