Carter County Landfill Committee meeting gets heated over potential employee raises

Published 9:19 am Tuesday, March 7, 2023

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BY ROBERT SORRELL
Star Correspondent
Discussion at the Carter County Landfill Committee meeting became heated Monday as board members and the public wrangled the upcoming budget and potential pay raises.
The landfill’s budget needs are expected to be heard on March 28 at a Budget Committee hearing and Budget member Brad Johnson told Landfill Committee members that they need to submit a proper budget in order to be considered.
The Budget Committee has requested each department to submit a proper budget without any type of pay raises before hearings begin.
Johnson said the Budget Committee is responsible for considering pay raises.
“Decisions about raises are the job of the Budget Committee,” Johnson told the committee and Landfill Director Benny Lyons.
Johnson also informed the committee and Lyons to include revenues in the budget, which he described as a “critical” piece of information the Budget Committee needs as it reviews budget requests for the year.
Several landfill employees and family members attended Monday’s meeting to speak about pay raises.
Employee Christina Covington said the landfill staff was left out of pay raises in the county. She said an employee who has worked at the landfill for more than a decade is still paid $11 to $12 an hour. She said starting employees at McDonald’s and Lowe’s get paid more than the landfill staff.
“We are underpaid,” said Don McMillon, who works at the landfill’s recycling center.
McMillon said he and others are “barely making it” and “we definitely need a raise.”
He said equipment at the landfill and recycling center also needs repaired.
Another landfill employee, Robert Nave, said people often laugh when he tells them how much he is paid.
“If something doesn’t change, we’ll have to go somewhere else,” Nave said.
Employees brought up several times that the cost of goods and necessities have gone up, such as eggs and gas, and their current pay barely covers them. They also have issues paying for medical care and normal housing costs, they said.
In addition to providing services at the landfill and recycling center, the employees said there are staff members who have various certifications, such as a commercial drivers license.
County Mayor Patty Woodby said she supports pay raises for employees throughout the county government, including the landfill. She agreed that it costs the same for eggs and gas for all employees, not just the ones that have already been given raises.
Woodby noted that employees at the Carter County Sheriff’s Office recently were given a necessary $5 raise, but others also deserve a raise. She said a $2 raise would be a “slap in the face.”
The county works as a team, Woodby said, and that includes those at the landfill.
Lyons said he is requesting raises this year in order to provide at least a “livable wage” for employees.
When confronted by questions from the public, Johnson interjected that the Budget Committee is not against pay raises. He said the committee is only asking for a proper budget at this time in order to consider raises.
The committee decided to recess until March 16, so Carter County Finance Director Carolyn Watson can provide landfill revenue information needed for the budget.
In other news, Lyons informed the committee that a previous water leachate issue at the landfill had been corrected and approved by the state. The state previously spotted the issue during an inspection. The state did not fine the county, Lyons said.

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