The Grundy County Board unanimously approved a 5% wage increase for non-union county employees during its Tuesday meeting.

County Administrator Mary Kucharz said starting Dec. 1, 2025, the beginning of Fiscal Year 2026, these non-union employees will see a raise and then starting Dec. 1 2026, employees will see a 3% raise.

“After staff looked at the numbers, the cost of living increases, we felt that a 5% increase was in line for Dec. 1, 2025, but then acting upon this board’s wish to get that back down to what we anticipate will be happening throughout the labor market, is to bring that back down to 3% for Fiscal Year 2027,” Kucharz said. “Normally, we do this in one year, but we felt that this would be more in line with what the board had asked us to do last year.”

Board President Drew Muffler said this year’s increase makes it four years in a row of 5% increases, and there was talk of creeping down toward 4% increases. As time passed, the county board leadership decided decreasing the annual wage increase for this year didn’t feel right.

“We’re hoping and going for when it comes to the non-union increases is, that we’re out of COVID,” Muffler said. “We’re out of the inflationary environment that the nation and us have been experiencing over these last several years now.”

Muffler said he feels this is a good step toward creeping down the wage increases to a more reasonable number, though he said this measure is not set in stone. If the board finds that 3% increases are not enough this time next year, the board can change its decision.