• In June, when Columbus County commissioners approved a 3 percent raise and 2 percent 401k contribution for county employees, six maintenance workers at the community college were excluded. After much controversy over the issue and a report from the finance director, commissioners approved a $14,505 budget amendment to fund 3 percent raises for the workers.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Columbus County commissioners quietly approved a 3 percent pay raise for six county-funded employees at Southeastern Community College at their Nov. 6 meeting.

Commissioners approved a 3 percent raise in June for themselves and all county employees but excluded the SCC employees because they said they were unsure of the county’s financial situation.

On Nov. 9, just three days after the vote, Chairman Kip Godwin drafted a letter to the college’s board of trustees explaining the raise is retroactive and that one-half of the allocation would be included in the college’s next quarterly contribution.

“It is our hopes that these employees will receive their first six months payroll increase in December and the remainder to be included in their monthly payroll thereafter,” the letter states. “As we discussed, I personally wish we could do much more financially to support the college. Unfortunately, our current financial circumstances, including record levels of county share Medicaid costs required by the State of North Carolina, make it impossible for us to do more at this time.”

“We had to get our financial house in order,” Godwin said, indicating the uncertainty led the board to leave the SCC workers without raises like other employees. “Once we knew our financial situation and saw that we could afford to, the finance committee made a recommendation to give the raises.”

On Nov. 10, Steve Smith of the SCC Board of Trustees e-mailed Godwin thanking him for the raises. “While this action may have been a challenge for the county budget, we at SCC greatly appreciate this decision,” the email reads.

An e-mail forwarded to Smith from SCC President Kathy Matlock urged trustees to thank commissioners for the raise. “I am so pleased that these hardworking individuals will get a well-deserved raise. If you see our commissioners, please tell them, ‘thank you.’”

While the back pay may make for a nice Christmas bonus to the employees, the circumstances surrounding their exclusion still remain questionable. It is unclear why commissioners approved raises for themselves, brining their pay to $13,361 for commissioners and $16,234 for the chairman while leaving the SCC workers without one.

Five raises ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 were allegedly given to at least five employees in February. It is unclear what the circumstances are surrounding the possible pay increases or what attention was paid to budget restraints, if any, at that time.

The county will not release information about the alleged raises based on their interpretation of the N.C. General Statutes related to personnel information. The law specifically states that the date of the last raise is public record but does not speak specifically to past pay increases.

While several municipalities, such as the City of Whiteville and Town of Chadbourn, list salaries as line items in their annual budgets, Columbus County does not.

One of the raises may have been for County Attorney Steve Fowler, who according to a N.C. Salary Survey in January, was making $62,500 and as of Oct. 19 was earning $70,000.

Another may have gone to Personnel Director Virginia Taylor who was the sole employee of the department in June with salary expenditures of $36,866 for fiscal 04-05, according to a fiscal 2005-2006 budget-draft. Based on those figures her salary has grown more than $20,000 in two years. The department reported her salary was $58,083, as of Oct. 19, 2006.