All Forest County employees will be getting a slight raise next year.
The 1 percent pay increase for 2017 was approved by the county commissioners Thursday during the panel’s bi-monthly meeting.
The raise is based on employee performance reviews, cost of living and how the county’s budget is shaping up.
Commissioners chairman Bob Snyder said the county previously had used a step-increase system, but finances eventually forced a change.
“We just couldn’t afford to keep it up,” Snyder said.
When the system was switched over last year, Snyder said there was an agreement to provide a minimum 1 percent raise.
Snyder said going with the minimum was the safe decision to make considering uncertainty surrounding the county’s still-in-progress spending plan for 2017.
The county is currently soliciting bids from banks for a $300,000 tax anticipation note to stabilize the finances until tax revenue starts coming in March or April.
The commissioners had previously said the county would be lucky to reach the end of the year without going in the red due to a consistent increase in prisoner maintenance costs.
Without a county jail, Forest County’s prisoners are housed at a facility in Warren County. The agreement between the two counties calls for Forest County to pay $55 per day per inmate, plus any additional medical costs.
For the month of August, Forest County paid $26,803.09 for prisoner maintenance, which was a $5,817.18 increase compared with the bill from July and a $6,311.15 hike from June’s invoice.
Traditionally, the total monthly expense ranged from $6,000 to $8,000, and the county budgeted $150,000 for prisoner maintenance throughout all of 2016.
Snyder said the plan was to have a preliminary version of the 2017 budget ready for presentation on Thursday, but he said it will likely be delayed until the next meeting on Nov. 17 to allow time to tie up some loose ends that will factor in including discrepancies with grant-funded positions, certified millage rates and debt service adjustments.