The full Monroe County Council at its May 27th, 2025, public meeting. (Donnie Burgess, WFIU/WTIU News)
Monroe County will no longer hear requests from county department heads to hire applicants at a higher-than-normal salary based on their extensive skills and experience.
In a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, the council placed a temporary pause on the hiring practice, also known as a Knowledge Skills and Abilities label. The pause will be lifted after Dec. 31 unless the council votes to make any changes beforehand.
Jennifer Crossley, president of the county council, said these are the kinds of decisions necessary due to impending financial strain from property tax revenue loss.
Read more: County says it cannot do more with less
“There’s obviously hard decisions that we all had to make today, and there are a lot of different opinions, but I think we do those with heavy hearts because of what we have up against us right now,” Crossley said.
Applicants for county jobs will only be offered the minimum base salary.
Crossley clarified that Monroe County is not under a hiring freeze.
Councilmembers Trent Deckard and Kate Wiltz voted against pausing the employee pay boost, citing concerns over not being able to attract talented people to the county.
Related: Salary request discussion leads to tense exchange at county council meeting
