A total of 157 nonunion Butler County employees will not get a pay raise.

The county salary board on Wednesday did not approve a 3-percent pay increases for them.

The board voting 2-2 on that motion with commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton voting yes and Commissioner Jim Eckstein and county Controller Ben Holland voting no.

The raises would have cost $220,000 to $225,000.

McCarrier said that almost all of the county’s union employees this year received 3 percent increases from an arbitrator, and asked if it is fair to penalize nonunion employees for not being in a union.

“I don’t think so,” McCarrier said.

Eckstein said pay raises should be revenue neutral, and said he would vote no out of respect for the new county commissioners taking office Monday. He said all three of the new commissioners — Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel — have indicated that they do not want to raise taxes, and said this increase could make it hard on them.

Pinkerton said the nonunion employees work just as hard as union employees, and said most of them are exempt from overtime and are the ones making managerial decisions. He decried Eckstein’s and Holland’s no votes.

“It’s wrong what these two are trying to do to our nonunion people,” Pinkerton said.

Holland said he could not vote in favor of 3-percent raises because the county has an unbalanced budget, and noted that the new county commissioners are looking to reopen the budget.

“Nothing personal, I’m just doing my job,” Holland said.