MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — Monroe County Commissioners voted to give their poll workers a raise. Rosalyn Harbuck has been with Monroe County’s Board of Elections for over ten years. She said their minimum wage pay rate has cost them in the past.
"Some of them had been with us for a certain number of years, but recently we've lost several because our pay grade was not where it really needed to be," Harbuck said.
Harbuck said their reduced rate made it hard to keep workers. Now, the county commission voted to hike pay to keep their wages competitive.
"You can't recruit the kind of people we need to be sure that the election is held fairly for everyone and that it's secure as we can make it," Harbuck said.
Jim Hedges is the county manager. He compared Monroe County’s poll worker pay rate to nearby counties like Butts, Lamar, and Jones.
All of them are paying at least two dollars more than Monroe County. In his proposal, hedges gave commissioners two options, an increase to $10 an hour or an increase to $12.50.
Commissioner John Ambrose believes there are ways to save money despite allocating more funds for a pay raise.
"We got what 13 precincts we vote at? This can be cut back to at least six precincts...the money it would save us," Ambrose said.
The commissioners approved a new hourly rate of $12.50. Commission Chairman, Greg Tapley, hopes it helps with all the upcoming elections.
"Maybe it’ll make it easier on recruiting too," Tapley said.
Harbuck said this increase is buying more than just poll workers.
"You can’t go out on the street and pick up somebody, bring them in and expect them to be able to run an election. It takes training. It takes some experience and it takes some knowledge," Harbuck said.
The first election in Monroe County will be in March for the presidential primary. It will also include the county's T-SPLOST.