Employees of the Whitley County Health Department (WCHD) will be getting a pay increase for the second straight year thanks to a decision Monday by the Whitley County Board of Health.
The health department’s 2025-2026 budget was the main focus of the board’s quarterly meeting Monday, which included a 3 percent raise across the board for all employees. The board also approved a 3 percent raise as part of last year’s budget.
Much like last year, however, those raises will not all be effective at one time.
According to Marcy Rein, WCHD’s public health director, the raises will go into effect once an employee reaches the anniversary month of their initial hiring, which will stagger the raises throughout the coming year.
The health department’s fiscal year budget also projected a slight increase in revenue for the coming year at $7,127,451. Last year, that number was just a little under $7 million. According to the provided number, the health department is expected to have a balanced budget, with the projected expenditures for the coming year to match the projected revenue.
In addition to the raises, the board approved the property tax rate at 4 cents per $100 of assessed value. Rein said that rate has remained unchanged now for 30 years.
In other board of health business:
– Board members approved the sale of a portion of property to the state.
That property is a tract of land running along Penny Lane where the WCHD is currently located. The sale will allow the state to acquire right-of-way along that street for an upcoming project to build a sidewalk along the length of that street on the same side of the road as the health department.
The project is also expected to reshape one end of that street as well.
“The driveway closest to the water park is where Penny Lane will end as it exists now and it will curve around following the creek—roughly—to 92. So, they’re taking part of our grass. It will not take any parking spaces or disrupt the curb there or any of the light posts there,” said Rein.
There will still be access to the health department for both employees and the public once construction does begin.
The offer from the state for that portion of land, which was not negotiable, was $68,012.
