HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — The Carroll County Finance Ways and Means Committee, formerly called the Budget Committee, finalized a package of employee compensation changes at their meeting Thursday morning, March 5, that includes a pay increase, complete overhaul to the payroll timeline, and changes to HSA account distribution.
They also approved a slate of budget amendments.
A 3% Raise and a New Look at Payroll
The finance committee unanimously approved a 3% across-the-board pay increase for all county employees.
Committee Chair, Darrell Ridgely explained that the increase is higher than what the state offered elected officials.
“We’re above what the state is even offering,” Ridgely said. “Our employees are very important to us, and we appreciate what you’re doing. We try to maintain a steady pattern of pretty substantial raises.”
Alongside the raise, the committee approved a significant change to how payroll is processed.
Beginning July 1, 2026, the county will move from 24 pay periods per year to 26, and employees will be paid for hours already worked rather than in advance.
Finance Director Stacey McCaleb said the change will bring the county in line with how most other local employers operate.
As it is currently, county employees get paid in advance for at least one week of their payroll cycle. The change will make it so that they are paid after they’ve worked the hours.
“Basically, say our payroll right now is the 15th,” McCaleb explained. “Time sheets have to be turned in to the bank by the 10th. So therefore, if they got paid those days and called out sick, within the next payroll you’re having to go back and say, okay, we’ve got to deduct you because we paid you.”
Payroll Administrator Adriana Ezell noted the issue is particularly complicated when employees use sick or annual leave, since payroll must trust that corrected time sheets will be submitted.
Ridgely looked over at the press table and said, “let’s make sure we get this right” and proceeded to frame the transition as a correction, not a penalty for employees.
“Employees are getting paid for every hour they work,” he said. “There’s not some kind of shell game where we’re trying to screw the employee. They’re going to get paid for exactly what they work, just like they should. We’re just not paying them in advance.”
Committee member Jay Phipps noted the change would benefit employees in some cases as well.
“If it turns out I’m supposed to work eight hours and I actually work 16 because somebody’s out, I’m getting paid correctly on that payroll too,” he said, pointing to recurring overtime issues in the sheriff’s department.
By law, the county is required to give employees 90 days’ notice before changes to their pay schedule. McCaleb said formal notification letters would be presented at the April meeting for the committee’s review before being distributed to staff.
HSA Contributions to Go Quarterly
The committee also approved changes to how the county handles its employer contribution to employee Health Savings Accounts.
Currently, the county deposits the full $1,500 annual contribution into an employee’s HSA card as soon as they become eligible.
In a few cases, workers have left shortly after receiving the lump sum, which puts the county out the entire $1,500.
“You sit and see an employee come in, and it’s almost like, soon as they get that $1,500, they leave, ” McCaleb said.
Effective January 2027, all county employees will instead receive their HSA contributions in quarterly installments of $375 — on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 each year.
Employees who leave mid-quarter will only receive a prorated share of that quarter’s installment, and new hires will be subject to a proration formula based on their benefits start date.
Phipps raised the question of employee reaction to the front-loaded contribution going away, but ultimately agreed the new approach struck the right balance.
“I think there’s two things to look at,” he said. “One is what’s best for the business of the county. The other is fairness for the employees. I think the fairness outweighs the little bit of savings that it is for the county.”
Holiday Pay Policy Put Under the Microscope
The committee also voted to standardize how holiday pay is handled across county departments, requiring that all paid holidays be processed and paid during the month in which they occur.
The change is intended to end a practice in at least one department of banking holiday pay and collecting it in large lump sums, sometimes months later.
Committee member John Austin expressed criticism of the existing system.
“We have to be careful as a county to allow a department a privilege that we don’t offer other departments,” Austin said.
He acknowledged the unique 24/7 demands of the sheriff’s department.
“If you work July 4, you get paid your eight-hour shift and you get paid your holiday. You don’t bank that holiday to be taken the Wednesday before Thanksgiving,” he said, speaking of Sheriff Andy Dickson.
Austin called on the Personnel Committee to convene and formally address the issue, along with other compensation practices such as how comp time is accrued and paid out.
“This deal about letting people do whatever they want to do because they’re in a certain department needs to stop,” he said. “The Personnel Committee needs to meet. It needs to be addressed.”
McCaleb said much of this has come to light through the county’s audit process, with auditors questioning time sheet practices that have long operated as unwritten rules in some departments.
Ridgely acknowledged the same underlying logic applied to the payroll change.
“Maybe it was a good system at the time it was created,” he said. “Maybe what we’re about to do today won’t seem like a good system in 30 years. But it seems to me that’s why it’s all on here today – trying to clean some of this up.”
Budget Amendments Approved
The committee approved a series of budget amendments from several county departments. Most were internal line-item transfers requiring no new funding.
Carroll Academy brought three items: a $500 amendment to add an assistant boys basketball coach, a $5,000 transfer to cover supplies needed to bring a new construction classroom up to safety and instructional code standards, and a $1,633 adjustment to cover a liability insurance overage.
The fire department received approval for three line-item transfers covering legal and court costs for deed processing and surety bonds on truck titles ($3,263.04), drug testing for new volunteer firefighters ($172), and a natural gas overage ($4,000).
EMA was approved for a $4,200 transfer to fully equip an incoming truck with a light kit. The county clerk received approval to draw $10,200 from her department’s reserve fund to replace computers that auditors flagged as needing Windows 11 upgrades.
The recycling center was approved to establish a part-time line item to hire temporary help in April, when as many as three full-time employees may be out simultaneously. The $1,949 transfer covers part-time salary plus Social Security and Medicare.
Two final grant-related amendments were also approved: a $5,000 recruitment grant entry to cover staffing costs through the end of the fiscal year, and a $49 GHSO reimbursement adjustment to clear a bookkeeping entry.
What’s Next
The committee meets again on March 19 to review draft budgets from department heads ahead of a full all-day budget hearing set for April 9, beginning at 8 a.m.
McCaleb said she is still waiting on the state retirement rate before finalizing budget projections.