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Step increases reinstated to MCCC employees

President David Nixon and the Board of Trustees have decided to reinstate step increases to MCCC employees.

In a recent e-mail Nixon sent to all support staff and administrators, he explained that the recent retirements at MCCC resulted in additional cash flow to the college’s 2010-2011 budget.

The step increases will be reinstated to employees based on the current schedules. Employees eligible for a step increase as of July 1, 2010 will receive a one-step advancement on the schedule.

“Just how much of a total savings it will mean for the MCCC budget is not known yet as we are still in the process of evaluating positions and hiring employees,” Nixon wrote.

“Our goal is to have all of this resolved as we move into the budget cycle for the 2011-2012 budget in December.”

The step increases will be effective beginning September 5, 2010 and will be seen in the check they will receive on September 24, 2010.

The approximately 50 support staff and administrators currently eligible for step increases will be the first to see results of retirement cost savings.

A decision has not been made about the pay freeze support staff and administrators agreed to a year and a half ago, which had also eliminated step increases.

Nixon wrote that since the total cost savings from retirements will not be known for a while and since there is no indication of how soon the economy will turn around, they have not been able to make their decision.

In the next two to three months the 2009-2010 audit will be completed, and a more accurate account of the savings from the retirements will be known.

Nixon also noted the benefits of the new Health Savings Account (HSA) which has saved money for the college and employees, as well as other employee benefits like college tuition remission, which totaled $82,000 for college employees and their families in the past year.

“As we pledged in the beginning, our goal was to avoid layoffs or mandatory furloughs,” Nixon wrote.

“So far, we’ve been able to do that. In fact, as you have noticed, we have been able hire new employees through retirements and in the high growth areas of the College.”