Photo by Jocelyn King
Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, left, Commission Chairman Don Nickerson and Commissioner Zach Abraham listen as County Administrator Randy Russell addresses the commission during a recent meeting.
WHEELING — Ohio County commissioners expect health insurance premiums to increase for county workers next year, but county employees will still receive annual pay increases.
In past years, the county has given employees a $1,000 annual pay increase just before Thanksgiving, but rising health insurance prices have forced it to rethink that policy.
At their most recent meeting, commissioners approved an $800 annual wage increase for all employees in 2024. Employees will receive the amount in a lump sum with their next paycheck. The $800 increase will be calculated as a gradual wage increase starting July 1, 2025.
Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell said the county has 164 full-time employees.
County officials are currently conducting a salary study to determine how to best support employees financially, County Manager Zach Abraham explained.
“We're hopeful that the salary survey will be useful going forward,” he said. “Obviously, picking random numbers (for wage increases) can be arbitrary, but we recognise there will be premium increases.”
He suggested commissioners consider giving staff raises, and commission Chairman Don Nickerson agreed.
“It's a big challenge for staff and for the board,” Nickerson said. “It's a big increase in the county's budget, but we're willing to help out in any way we can.”
Commissioners have already been informed that the county's share of employee health insurance costs will increase by $450,000 next year. Abraham said health insurance costs currently stand at about $4 million, making up about one-fifth of Ohio County's roughly $21 million budget.
“To put this in perspective, we've been able to make some savings through changes to our plan design and passing them on to employees,” he said, “but if you look at what premiums are on the open market, the premiums our team members pay are still very low.”
Abraham said he thought the county should probably raise each employee's pay by $500 to $750. The board would then have to decide whether to give that money to employees as a lump sum or in increments in their paychecks throughout the year.
“It's hard to hire and keep good employees,” said Chairman Randy Wharton. “One of the things we have to do is give them a sense of stability. We need to develop some standards — entry-level standards and mid-level standards — and let employees know they can build a career with us.”
“The uncertainty we're dealing with right now is the cost of benefits. We know the cost of pensions, but the cost of health insurance is a difficult number to address.”
Wharton said commissioners had been warned that premiums could increase by 15 to 20 percent next year.
“It's natural to be more cautious about compensation,” he explained, “but we have a lot of great employees who deserve some kind of raise. Even a small raise is enough to let them know we appreciate their work.”
Wharton added that county commissioners need to work with county elected officials, such as the sheriff and assessor, to develop a staffing strategy and that everyone needs to understand the budget for the next few years.
“We've faced a lot of challenges since COVID,” he continued. “We're getting better and we're going to get better.”
Abraham noted that many elected officials are already working to streamline their offices and reduce staffing, including County Clerk Mike Kelly, who successfully digitized most of the county's records and reduced staffing during his tenure.
“Several other offices have made the choice to not hire people and instead have other people absorb the work,” Abraham says. “They're working more efficiently and have more technology available to them.”
“That's something I would ask all officials to consider. There is a finite amount of revenue available. There is a finite amount of tax revenue, so we need to use those resources as efficiently as possible.”
But don't forget to reward and recognize your employees appropriately, Wharton says.
“We don't want to have employees so underpaid that they have to constantly look for work,” he said. “We don't want to lose talented people to the private sector. We want to attract talent from the private sector.”
“One of my goals since I've been here is to protect the benefits. … Showing employees the benefits makes them feel good about themselves.”
Abraham said benefits amount to about 30 to 40 percent of a county employee's total salary.
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