Vermilion Parish Police Jury employees may see pay raise in 2019

Good news for some Vermilion Parish Police Jury employees. When 2019 starts, some police jury employees may see a pay raise on their check, if a new merit system is approved by the police jury on Monday.
During a special committe meeting on Wednesday, the police jurors approved a new merit pay raise system that could give as high as a five percent payraise or as low as no payraise.
Police Jury Administrator Keith Roy introduced the new merit system to the police jurors. The jurors still have to approve it Monday at its regular board meeting.
Police Jury employees have not received a pay raise since 2015.
This month, all police juror employees have been sitting with their supervisors to be evaluated. Once the evaluation is over, their supervisor gave them a number rating from 1 to 5.
The best rating is a 5 and the lowest rating is a 1.
Roy explained that this year if an employee gets a 3 rating, they will get a 3 percent pay raise. If they get a 4, they will get a 4 percent raise. Roy also added if by chance someone receives a 5, they will be awarded a 5 percent raise.
If a police juror employee earns $20,000 a year, a 3 percent raise is an extra $600 a year. A 4 percent raise would be $800 more a year.
On the downside, if an employee receives a 2 rating, they will be put on a probation. Also, a 1 rating could mean a dismal, said Roy.
The pay raises will cost the police jury around $150,000 in 2019.
If the new merit pay raise system is adopted Monday, Roy said employees could see their raises on their first check in 2019.
The police jurors also approved giving two employees each a $3,500 a year pay raise. Carolyn Bessard, the assistant parish administrator, and treasurer Tim Baudoin were approved for raises.
Police Juror Errol Domingue did not feel it was right to give employees pay raises with the police jury starting 2019 with a deficit of around $1.5 million.
The jurors reminded Domingue that last year the police jury was looking at a defict at the start of 2018 of around $3 million. When the year was over, the jury finished the year $250,000 in the black.