City And County Employees Will See Wage Increase

During the June 19 regular Valley County Commissioners meeting, the Commissioners unanimously passed to increase elected officials’ salaries and all permanent employee salaries by four percent. This change will be effective on their first paycheck in fiscal year ‘25, which will be in July. There was no public comments offered on either item during the meeting.

Salaries for Valley County Elected Officials for 2024/2025 will be:

Valley County Commissioner: $57,088.91

Valley County Clerk and Recorder: $65,352,25 (The Clerk and Recorder also receives salary for being election administrator and County Superintendent of Schools/Assessor

Valley County Clerk of the District Court: $57,088.91

Valley County Treasurer: $57,088.91

Valley County Sheriff: $57,088.91

Valley County Coroner: $15,000

Valley County Attorney: $138,009.45 (The State of Montana pays $82,805.67 of this salary)

Valley County Justice of the Peace: $34,253.35

During the June 17 regular Glasgow City Council meeting, there was a number of different wage increase requests on the agenda, including paying for health insurance.

Council member Brian Austin made a motion to approve the recommendation from the wage comp committee to pay up to $900 for health insurance for non-bargaining employees for fiscal year 2024-2025. The MMIA employee only rate for fiscal year 2024-2025 will be $877 per month. The motion was seconded by council member Butch Heitman and carried unanimously.

Council member Lisa Koski then made a motion approving the recommendation from the wage comp committee to extend the police department hiring incentives for another year. The motion was seconded by Council member Doug Nistler. The current hiring incentives are $4,000 for newly hired employees; receiving a $2,000 as a sign on bonus and the remaining $2,000 after successfully completing a one-year probationary period. The other incentive is for $6,000 for those who are hired with POST certifications with $3,000 as a sign on bonus and the remaining to be paid after completion of a one-year probationary period

Council member Nistler next made a motion approving the recommendation for the wage comp committee to increase Chief Robert Weber’s wage to $43.44 effective July 1, 2024. The motion was seconded by Council member Dan Carr. There was discussion during the meeting on how much of an increase it was compared to his current wage, which equated to be about eight dollars an hour more. Mayor Rod Karst stated that Chief Weber would work 86 hours during a pay period and would have to get approval from Mayor Karst to work overtime hours. Since becoming Chief, from Sept. 8, 2021 to June 30, 2022, Weber worked 19 hours; from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, Weber worked 126 hours and from July 1, 2023 to June 17, 2024, he worked 153 hours. By increasing his wage to $43.44, the salary would increase from $106,000 to $138,000 for the fiscal year. The council believes Chief Weber should receive a raise, however not that high of a one. All the council members voted against the wage increase and a wage comp committee meeting will was scheduled for July 1, and the meeting hadn’t yet occurred as of press time.

The Chief position is not salaried as it would mean that 80 percent of his position would be administration while only 20 percent could be used as patrol. If he were to work over that 20 percent, then overtime hours would have to be applied and make it more difficult on payroll.

Council member Austin made the motion to approve the 4.5 percent increase for non-bargaining employees for fiscal year 2024-2025. The motion was seconded by Council member Nistler. The council then asked City Clerk Stacey Amundson what the increase to the budget would be for the next fiscal year with the 4.5 percent increase across the board for all employees since that is what was offered to both the union and the police department. Amundson stated the entire city budget would be about a $106,000 increase but that also included the increase for Chief Weber, which was voted against. The motion to approve the 4.5 percent increase for the employees was carried.

The Glasgow City Council meets in regular session the first and third Mondays of the month, 5 p.m., in the Council Chambers located inside of the Glasgow Civic Center. The Valley County Commissioners meet on Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m., in the Board of Commissioners located in the Valley County Courthouse. Agendas are posted on The Glasgow Courier Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/glasgowcourier when they become available.