Supervisors getting raise Jan. 1

Union County supervisors and some other officials will receive a raise Jan. 1.

The three-percent increase for the county board, at $1,212, will be their first raise in 16 years, according to supervisors.

A supervisor’s salary is set by the legislature and based on the county’s assessed valuation. For Union County, that salary is $40,400 per year, plus benefits.

A bill passed both houses earlier this past year that would give supervisors a $10,000 raise but because it was deemed more important to use the money for educators, the increase was reduced to the $1,212 level.

Justice court judges and the county prosecuting attorney also will receive the same increase and that amount was also voted as a raise for the county board attorney.

The supervisors approved the raises.

Also Monday, at the board’s monthly meeting, they voted to move the location of two polling places before the next election.

Precinct 404, which has been voting at East Union Attendance Center, will now vote at Ellistown Baptist Church.

Precinct 501, which has been voting at Northeast Mississippi Community College, will now vote at Watson Grove Baptist Church.

The next anticipated vote will be the presidential primary in March.

Supervisors said these specific moves were partly due to lack of space and liability but there has been interest in moving all school voting locations elsewhere for some time.

At present, precinct 103 Myrtle has already moved to the Temple Baptist Church Family Life Center. However, precinct 202 West Union continues to vote at the school as does precinct 204 Ingomar. A tentative decision was made to move Ingomar to Ingomar Baptist Church a few years ago but it was determined the voting process would conflict with church activities.

In personnel matters, the board approved hiring Steven Blake Allred as full-time sheriff’s deputy effective Dec. 2 and Alex Bryant as full-time deputy effective Dec. 16. A longevity pay increase for Amber Weathers in the sheriff’s department was also approved effective. Dec. 16.

Supervisors voted to advertise for bids for the county depository for next year. This is usually a routine matter and boards often simply accept multiple institutions so they can use whichever they want to.

This may lead to more consideration however, since the board drew discussion and some criticism this past year when they moved an $8.5 million certificate of deposit from a New Albany-based bank to one based outside this community, even though they took the best bid financially.

In other business, supervisors voted to transfer $2,201 from the general fund to the volunteer fire department fund. The money is to pay for a 1998 Chevrolet pickup the county purchased from one of the fire departments to use for general purposes. Because the truck will see service for different departments, it was decided that half of the payment could come from road funds and half from bridge funds.

Some other fund transfers were approved relating to the Hwy. 348 water project and the Martintown North Industrial Park access road. The projects are being mostly paid for with grants.

In general business, the board reappointed Union County Superintendent of Schools Ken Basil to the Northeast Mississippi Community College Board of Trustees.

In personal appearances, the board heard from Greg Crestman and Chris Caldwell representing Aflac Insurance.

The two said they company wants to offer free to the county an integrated cloud-based software system that can keep up with personnel-related items. In return, they asked that Aflac be allowed to offer supplement insurance to county employees. The board did not take any action on the matter.

Sheriff Jimmy Edwards got approval to buy two Dodge Durangos for his department, one from his general budget and one from the D. A. R. E. budget. Edwards said he chose those vehicles over Chargers or Explorers due to price and availability. The vehicles will cost about $27,000 each plus $5,000 for the addition of law enforcement equipment and accessories.

The next scheduled meeting of the board will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 16, in the boardroom of the chancery court building.