A few financial changes were approved Tuesday evening at the Iowa Central Board of Directors meeting.

An amendment to the agreement between the board and Iowa Central Community Classified Employee Association was approved, raising the wages of some staff members.

According to the amendment, beginning Nov. 1, 2021, through June 20, 2022, the base hourly hiring rate for custodians will range from a minimum of $15.90 to a maximum of $16.40 depending on new employees’ custodial experience.

The base hourly hiring rate for secretaries will range from $16.15 to a maximum of $16.65, also depending on experience.

Current staff members hired prior to Nov. 1, 2021, in the custodial and secretarial departments will receive a $4 increase in their base hourly rate.

Board President Mark Crimmins said he felt these wage increases were “long overdue.”

Dr. Jesse Ulrich, Iowa Central president, said this change will make Iowa Central more competitive in pay rates and he hopes this increase will encourage more applicants so they can fill vacancies.

The Iowa Central board also approved a voluntary retirement incentive plan for employees retiring during the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Ulrich said he does not plan to offer a retirement incentive every year.

“This is always a bittersweet thing for me to bring to the board because on one side, we have a lot of great people here and they have served many, many years for this institution and do incredible things for us,” said Ulrich. “On the other side, the early retirement incentive is always to help the college be fiscally responsible and invest that in other ways.”

The incentive plan will offer one year of salary and insurance through age 65 for the retiree. One change Ulrich said they chose to make is to pay the salary through a 403(b) post-retirement special pay program.

“The reason we will be doing that is because on the employee side, they still get the money, it’s their money and they do what they want with it, but they save 7.65 percent because they don’t have to pay FICA on it,” said Ulrich. “What it does for the institution is we also save the 7.65 percent of the FICA.”

Ulrich said there are 41 employees currently eligible to take part in this retirement incentive.

In his president’s update, Ulrich announced that he, Crimmins, board member Larry Hecht, and Assistant to the President and Board of Directors’ Secretary Allyson Walter will be attending the Association of Community College Trustees annual conference this week in San Diego, California. After he returns from San Diego, Ulrich and Vice President of External Affairs and Government Relations Jim Kersten will travel to Washington, D.C to meet with representation and advocate for Iowa Central as well as community colleges in general.