Supervisors approve Comp Board recommendation

    GRUNDY CENTER — The Grundy County Board of Supervisors approved the recommended 4 percent raises for the county’s elected officials during Monday’s regular Board meeting.
    Much of the discussion about the raises, which were recommended by the County Compensation Board Jan. 10, did not surround the raises themselves but were about an expected hike in health insurance costs that could be 4.1 percent or possibly even higher.
    Supervisor Barb Smith suggested that the County could offset part of the cost of the raises by adjusting the amount that employees pay for insurance. Salaried employees, including elected officials, currently pay a $130 per month copay for family insurance while roads employees pay $90 per month.
    Supervisor Chuck Bakker said he has been pushing for a higher copay for insurance, suggesting that he first felt employees should be responsible for up to 20 percent of any insurance, but has since changed his stance to one where employees should pay a percentage of family insurance.
    “Maybe we are responsible for the employees,” he said.

For more of this story, see the Jan. 23 Grundy Register.