Mon County Commission approves pay increases for county employees

MORGANTOWN — Employee raises and requested changes to the county’s insurance offerings were on Wednesday’s Monongalia County Commission agenda.
The commission approved pay increases of $1,500 for full-time employees and $1,000 for part-time employees.
Commission President Tom Bloom said that full-time county employees have received a 5 percent pay increase in addition to raises totaling $3,000 per employee in the last four years.
The raises are consistent with what was approved last year.
The commission also altered the details of its high deductible health plan (HDHP) after meeting recently with employees and elected officials.
The county wants employees to move away from the preferred provider organization (PPO) and opt instead for the HDHP in an attempt to drive county insurance costs down.
As a part of the plan, the commission will place $2,000 in a health savings account for every employee, covering the deductible of single employees and half the $4,000 deductible for family plans.
When the commission put this plan in place on June 13, it stipulated that the commission’s contributions to employees health savings accounts would be broken into quarterly payments.
County Clerk Carye Blaney explained the primary concern with the quarterly schedule.
“Several of our employees have high prescription costs which caused them a bit of a budget concern considering this was to go into effect August 1,” Blaney said.
The commission ultimately agreed, voting Wednesday to rescind the June 13 vote and instead place the whole $2,000 in each employee account at the start of the plan year, Aug. 1.
Blaney, Sheriff Perry Palmer and Assessor Mark Musick said they appreciated the raises as well as the second look at the HDHP.
“Everybody who works for the county is so appreciative to the citizens of the county for giving us the great healthcare that we do have,” Blaney said. “We have better healthcare than most any other employer provides in the county and I think every single one of our employees recognizes that.”
Commissioner Sean Sikora said the county covers 93 percent of employee premium costs.
“I’ve never heard of that,” Sikora said. “That’s incredible.”
Also on Wednesday, Blaney was honored by the Morgantown – Monongalia County League of Women Voters with its 2018 Democracy in Action Award.
Catherine Lozier, representing the league, explained that Blaney has been with the county for 31 years and has served as the county clerk since March 2007.
Lozier explained that it’s Blaney’s work in promoting and streamlining county elections that earned her the honor, noting “She is remarkable.”
Blaney accepted the award on behalf of the 20 employees in the clerk’s office as well as the county’s election workers.
“It’s such an honor to receive this award, especially from the league, which does so much to educate the electorate and activate them to participate in the election process,” Blaney said.
In other news, the commission:
Heard from 2017 Miss West Virginia Tamia Hardy and 2017 Miss West Virginia Outstanding Teen Sabrina Harrison.
The 2018 Miss West Virginia Scholarship Pageant will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at the Metropolitan Theatre.
Approved an additional $5,000 for both the Monongalia County Fair and the Battelle District Fair.