Monroe County continued its 2021 budget hearings Friday night by approving a funds request for a new position within the health department.
The county council passed a $1.4 million recommendation from the county's general fund that includes the addition of a Financial Manager with an annual salary of $43,698.
Several councilmembers agreed the position is an urgent need for the health department.
“I want to get started hiring it," council president Eric Spoonmore said. "I don’t want to wait until 2021."
Monroe County Health Administrator Penny Caudill said the department is requesting two additional positions for both an Environment Coordinator and an Epidemiology Coordinator to help assist the county during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Those would allow lots of other streamlining of activities and the work that we do," Caudill said. "By bringing those on, it would actually help the other full-time staff that we have.”
The annual salary for each of those positions would be about $47,520.
"Right now, we don't have any other actual managers," Caudill said. "We have general supervisors who are also in the field."
Councilmember Goeff McKim said he thinks the two extra positions are necessary, but they haven’t gone through the procedure of being brought in front of the council’s Personnel Administration Committee (PAC).
“I'm definitely inclined to support it as soon as possible, but I do think we probably ought to remove them from the budget now, and give them the chance to go through the process immediately," McKim said.
McKim said once the positions get approval from the PAC, they will be considered.
The proposed Financial Manager has already been through that process, and was supported by the council unanimously.
A public hearing will be held on Sept. 29 for the final budget, which will then be up to a final vote on Oct. 14.
