Board votes to maintain officers’ personal days, increase wages

MARINETTE – In the midst of a severe employee shortage, several county employees were faced with a proposed plan to reduce personal time in lieu of holidays at the County Board meeting on Aug. 27. 

The plan was proposed by County Administrator John Lefebvre, who indicated that the change would save the county money and increase the wages of county employees and would affect the following county employees: sheriff department management employees, civilian corrections officers, dispatchers, crisis workers, care workers and mental health technicians.

Both Corrections Sergeant Jacob Roberts and Corrections Officer Faith Zebroski spoke against the proposal, arguing that holiday pay does not make up for reduced personal time.

“The proposal that John Lefebvre brought before the board includes many items. One of the items was increasing CO (correctional officer) wages, which we are appreciative of,” began Roberts. “Lefebvre wants to make the change and cites that it’s due to the fact that personal time is paid out overtime. That it saves money… The only reason personal time is paid out overtime is because of the current staffing crisis.”

“Most officers have children; all have families. This proposal will decrease their time with their families and increase their time spent with people at their lowest, who have proved they’re a danger to society and who’s freedom is restricted,” he said.

Zebroski added, “If you take away my personal days, I’ll have six days off of my choosing in a year.” 

“I’ve been screamed at, I’ve been spit at, I’ve been attacked, I’ve been told that they’re going to kill my family… This job isn’t easy. Our personal days give us an opportunity to get out of the job setting and mentally reset so we’re at our best at the jail. There has to be work-life balance,” she said.

The board sympathized with the officers, many of whom have experience in these settings or have loved ones who work as police officers. Many spoke out about the importance of personal time for such a mentally and physically demanding job.

In a 26-1 vote, the board voted against reducing personal time in lieu of holidays. Additionally, they committed to raising employee starting wages to $25.03 for correctional officers beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. 

The board also discussed three amendments to the ordinances pertaining to finance and taxation, the highway department and private sewage systems.

The new amendment to the finance and taxation ordinance would impose a penalty of 14 0.5% per month or fraction of a month on delinquent taxes. A wheel tax was proposed to bring in funds for the highway department, but it failed to pass. Similar to the wheel tax, a user tax was proposed for private sewage systems. This motion failed as well.

The next Marinette County Board meeting will be on Tuesday, Sept. 24.