The Grundy County Commission on September 13th unanimously approved a pay increase for ambulance employees for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.
The pay increase involves raising the base pay to $14.50 per hour for emergency medical technicians and $20.00 per hour for paramedics. It also includes pay increases as presented in the information presented by Ambulance Director Sarah Porter last week, which involved raises for most current paramedics of $5.50 per hour. The pay for clerical and administrative will remain the same.
The base pay is currently $11.50 per hour for EMTs and $14.50 per hour for paramedics. The billing director currently makes $15.49 per hour.
Presiding Commissioner Phillip Ray said the changes would take effect on the first payday in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The vote came after discussion by the commission, the ambulance director, and ambulance employees.
Commissioner Brad Chumbley initially said he was not in favor of giving raises in the middle of the budget year.
Porter said the raises would fit into the budget for 2022, then the matter would be looked at again for 2023. Chumbley commented he would not be opposed if the ambulance service thought it could work.
Chumbley said he wanted the pay increase to be labeled something other than a raise, such as a sign-on bonus or retention bonus. He did not intend to take away the pay increase at the end of the budget year.
Chumbley explained that giving a raise to ambulance employees might open a “Pandora’s box,” and other county offices could ask for more money for raises. He was also worried that if ambulance positions were not filled after the pay increase, overtime pay would “skyrocket.”
Last week, the information Porter provided included current fiscal year projections for the fourth quarter of 2022 and fiscal year projections with raises included for the fourth quarter. That information was based on increasing base pay to $13 per hour for EMTs and $20 per hour for paramedics.
The current fiscal year projection for the fourth quarter included $98,336.24 in regular-time expenses and $54,307.20 in overtime expenses. The projection for the fourth quarter with raises included $118,585.44 for regular-time expenses and $65,623.20 for overtime expenses.
Porter reported Grundy County Ambulance was facing a staffing emergency. It was said a pay increase could help recruit employees.
