FARMINGTON – Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to put a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for nonunion employees into the proposed $4.87 million budget.

Commissioners approved their recommendation for the 2008 proposal 2-1, with Chairman Gary McGrane of Jay opposed.

County Clerk Julie Magoon told commissioners Monday that it would be helpful if they could decide what the cost-of-living increase for nonunion employees would be because it takes a long time to redo the benefit packages before the first of the year.

McGrane said he wanted to wait until after the Franklin County Budget Committee meets and makes its recommendation on the proposal and a public hearing is held.

Magoon said the Budget Committee will meet at 4 p.m. today at the county jail to tour the facilities and then meet at the county courthouse to discuss the budget. A public hearing will be set after that.

She’ll have an idea of the committee’s recommendation for the cost-of-living increase then, she said.

Magoon said she couldn’t impress upon commissioners how hard it is to gather all the information needed and to get the benefits changed before Jan. 1, 2008. It takes about four weeks all together, she added.

“It’s hard to do it before the Budget Committee meets and the public hearing,” McGrane said.

“I wasn’t particularly interested in going along with the 3 percent,” Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon said.

He made a motion to allow a 2 percent increase, which was approved anonymously by the panel.

In other business, commissioners approved hiring two new emergency dispatchers.

Michael T. Wilbur of Strong was hired as full-time dispatcher to replace Kyle Ellis who is taking a patrolman’s position with Farmington Police Department.

Mahlon J. Hansen of Kingfield was hired as a part-time dispatcher.

Sheriff Dennis Pike also told commissioners he has suspended online National Incident Command System training for deputies, dispatchers and corrections officers until further notice.

Pike said his employees found a glitch in Federal Emergency Management Agency online program that had one of his officers taking the training four times and failing and another passing, though some of the answers were the same.

Employees needing the training will have to use the training manual and send the tests in, Pike said. He added that two-thirds of his employees have taken the training.

Availability on federal grant money hinges on people being trained in the county on the NIMS system.

After the meeting, Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy said Pike’s report of the glitch is the first he had. Everyone who has taken it online, who he knows of, had no problems, said Hardy, who is unrelated to Commissioner Hardy. He also could not confirm whether two-thirds of Pike’s staff had taken the training. He said, if they had, he did not have all the certificates.

Commissioners also voted to appoint Tim Hardy, Richard Morton, Dennis Pike, Melinda Caton, Don Fowler and Clyde Ross to the county building committee. Magoon said a couple of other people have expressed interested in being on the committee, but she needed to contact them to confirm it.