5% Pay Increase For Dawson County Employees

DAWSON COUNTY, Ga.- The Dawson County Commissioners voted to give a 5% pay increase to all county employees except elected officials that are already receiving a raise in accordance with the state in Jan.

The Commissioners also voted to appoint an Interim EMA Director. They also added an interim deputy EMA director as well.

Commissioner Tim Satterfield requested staff to begin looking into options for increasing pay for Dawson County employees in July. After staff reviewed the options they brought three before the board for their consideration at the work session on Sep. 1.

The commissioners reviewed all the options and felt that a 5% increase when paired with the 4% increase they received at the beginning of the year would match the current 9% inflation. In doing this blanket amount for all employees they also made changes to the employee handbook. To find the employee handbook or any employee resources please go to https://www.dawsoncountyga.gov/hr.

The pay increase will go into effect with the pay period beginning Sep. 3. This means employees will see the raise on the paycheck they receive on Sep. 23.

The commissioners are also in talks to add merit raises in the next year. No decisions have been made on that process yet.

Heard in the clip above is Satterfield explaining why he felt the increase was necessary. Currently, the county is still in its budget process for next year and staff is monitoring the inflation as Satterfield also states in the clip.

At the Aug. 18 work session, the County Manager and commissioners bid farewell to Fire Chief and EMA Director Danny Thompson. To review their remarks visit https://dawson.fetchyournews.com/2022/08/20/commissioners-approve-impact-fee-study/.

With his departure, if there were to be an emergency in the county there was no EMA Director to assist. County Manager David Headley presented Jason Dooley as the interim EMA director and fire chief.

The commissioners approved the appointment of Dooley. They also felt the need to have an interim deputy EMA director in the advent that Dooley is sick or otherwise unable to do the job. For that position, they appointed Lucas Ray.