Jasper County Board Considers Request for Pay Hike

Employees of the Jasper County Highway Department asked members of the County Board's Finance Committee for a salary increase.

Other county departments have no money in their budgets.  The highway employees feel they haven't been treated as well as other departments.  

There was no action on the request.

The Board tabled a raffle act for now.  There was also discussion of a need to pay Manatron to convert files to Dev Net for new tax software to operate correctly.  The work will cost $10,000 to $11,000, but Manatron will be returning $8,500 for unused credit, so that will lessen the out-of-pocket cost of the work.  Board members authorized Chairman Ed Mitchell to sign the contract when it arrives.

Microsoft issues are causing the need for some computers to be replaced and for software replacement in other units.  The work will need completed by mid-April.  The plan is to convert the computers to Windows 7 operating systems.

There was also discussion of a 911 grant totaling $200,000 for equipment for the dispatch center in Jasper County Jail in Newton.  The grant paperwork has been updated, and the architect will be in Newton Monday afternoon to review the project.

The Jasper Board discussed rabies tags.  The County collects $4 for each rabies tag.  The County is supposed to split the revenue with the City of Newton.  The City is due $1,326 for the fees collected during 2013.  The Board also was updated on the ambulance service radio base station.  The tower has been installed.  The bariatric rails price increased, so that project was dropped.  The Board did approve preventive maintenance for the monitors at a cost of $690 each.

The Board also discussed the resignation of the ambulance service's fulltime paramedic.  The committee also met Thursday to discuss the current requirement that a paramedic must live within the City of Newton.  It was agreed to advertise for a paramedic, but to not include the residency requirement.