Howard County approves pay raises for Health Department

If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

Employees of the Howard County Health Department will receive salary increases in 2021 after initially being denied such by the county council earlier this year.

The county council approved the pay increase requests Tuesday at its regular meeting, which will take effect January 2021. In January, the county council will have to formalize the pay increase with an approval of an additional appropriation for 2021’s budget.

Tuesday’s approval is a reversal from when the county council, in September during the 2021 budget sessions, denied pay raises for the department but approved the addition of another public health nurse.

A market study done by James Vest, Health Department administrator, comparing the department’s salaries to similar-sized counties and to the private market revealed sometimes stark disparities.

For example, the department’s public health nurses are currently paid $44,707, which is lower than nurses in similar-sized counties such as Morgan, Boone and Bartholomew and much lower than the $64,106 the average nurse working for a hospital is paid.

The county’s four public health nurses will now be paid $46,942 and its public health nursing director $56,098, compared to the current salary of $51,942.

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Other salary increases include:

• Administrator: From $54,106 to $58,435, which is comparable to the salary paid in Bartholomew County but is still less than Morgan ($69,875) and Boone ($70,292) counties and the private sector ($68,833).
• Environmental Director: From $46,532 to $50,255, which is now more than than the position’s salary in Vigo County ($47,664) but less than Morgan ($50,297), Bartholomew ($52,803) and the private sector ($70,000).
• Environmental Health Specialist/Restaurant Inspector: From $40,635 to $42,667, which is now more than the position’s salary in Vigo County ($$41,159) but less than Morgan ($50,297), Bartholomew ($52,803) and the private sector ($58,106).
• Public Health Nursing Director: From $51,942 to $56,098, which is more than Bartholomew ($52,098), Morgan ($50,297) and Boone counties ($50,741) but still lower than the private sector ($80,643).

Vest wasn’t able to attend Tuesday’s county council meeting. Speaking on his behalf was Commissioner Paul Wyman, who said the health department’s employees were more than deserving of the pay increases.

“If there was ever a time we were going to do something for our health department, it’s today,” he said.

“I can’t tell you the work they’ve done since last March. I wouldn’t be able to put it in words. Every other responsibility they have as a health department is still going on – shots for the kids, flu shots, inspecting restaurants. None of that has gone away. They’re doing that and the work of the pandemic.”