County revisits pay grid plan, goes with new option

Sometimes you need a third option.

That proved true for members of the Taylor County finance and personnel committees on September 12 when they revisited a pay scale change approved the month before.

At the August 15 meeting, members approved a new pay structure which included the equivalent of a 3% payroll increase while making changes to the target grade steps for new and existing employees and trading giving a boost to new employees while limiting the long term future earnings of employees.

After facing mounting negative feedback from staff, administrative coordinator Nicole Hager brought forward a third option which will give an equivalent of a 3.4% payroll increase with each position guaranteed at least a 2.5% increase in addition to their stop increase.

The option also opens the door to more steps before they reach a maximum for their grades. Hager noted that most employees are below the control point of their steps, meaning there is room for growth for them.

“Option 3 is a far better option than option 1 and 2,” said highway commissioner Ben Stanfley in response board member Rollie Thums asking for input from department heads at the meeting. Treasurer Sarah Holtz questioned how this would impact county elected officials. Earlier this year, the county board approved a change in county code to give those officials the same cost of living increases as the other staff. However, with the implementation of the new pay scale, this will take the place of cost of living adjustments.

Suzanne Stanfley, who heads the county’s human services department, said she felt the county was misled by the consultants in regard to options 1 and 2. She noted that under the previous options, she would have had four employees who would have been maxed out on step increases.

Committee members voted to adopt the option as presented.

In other business, committee members:

• Received official word that the county will have a 0% increase in its health insurance premiums for the coming year.

• Approved the creation of on call pay for the highway department and buildings and grounds department. This is for non-salaried positions who rotate through being oncall for weekends. If the employees are called in they would be guaranteed at least two hours of pay, or the actual time worked, whichever is greater.

• Approved a policy change to grant Memorial Day as a floating holiday for the Veterans Service Office. Personnel in that office work on Memorial Day taking part in veterans activities on behalf off the county. This change allows them to take that time off on another day during the year on a staggered basis in order to ensure the office remains open.