Commissioners approve 5% salary increase

Prior to adopting the final budget this Thursday, Lake County Commissioners approved a 5% pay increase or $1 more an hour, whichever is higher, for county employees last week.

The decision came a day after the Compensation Board met to advise the commissioners on pay increases for elected officials, which then sets the scale for employees.

The board is mandated by state statute and convenes annually to review the salaries of elected officials. Members include County Attorney James Lapotka, Clerk and Recorder Kendra Steele, Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Hall, Clerk of Court Lyn Fricker, and citizen representatives Jeff Smith of Anderson Broadcasting and attorney Bob Long.

The meeting was also attended by other elected officials and department heads, who spent more than an hour last Monday, Aug. 28, discussing the need to recruit and retain employees at all levels of county government.

At the onset of the meeting, Commissioner Bill Barron explained that the county would have around $470,000 in new revenue, a combination of the 2.4% increase allowed by law, and taxes on new developments.

He added that, despite high property valuations in the recent appraisal cycle, “we won’t see all that money. We have to levy fewer mills by law.”

Nonetheless, the $470,000 “is about twice what we usually get, so that’s the good part.”

The board heard from finance director Tara Barry, who had been asked to compare pay increases of 3%, 5% and 6.5%. She said the county “can for sure do a 5%, and most likely could do a 6.5%, although some budgets might need to get squished a little.”

The Sheriff’s Department and detention unit, which absorb the biggest piece of the budget pie, also receive extra money from the county’s public safety levy to help pay for law enforcement.

“We all know that we need to raise our base,” said Hall. “I think that's the goal that we need to keep in mind.”

According to Decker, the starting wage for Lake County employees is $15.75, which amounts to $32,760 a year. The average annual salary in Montana is $54,525, which means “a new employee is going to be about 20 grand under the average annual salary.”

Casey Leverich, head of Human Resources, estimated that about a dozen employees currently earn the starting wage. Of the five positions currently open, she said four are advertised at above that rate. Positions at the Lake County Transfer Station start at $17.11, Dispatch at just over $19, and Detention at $24.21.

Giving a percentage wage hike across the board is more beneficial to those who make more, while those at the bottom of the pay scale tend to benefit more from a dollar amount. Several department heads complained that employees often get trained by the county and then take higher paying jobs elsewhere.

“People come into these entry-level jobs, stay here for a couple years, get enough experience to make five dollars an hour more somewhere else, and then their mid-level position is left empty when they're gone,” Leverich said.

Compensation Board chair Bob Long tried to distill the issue: “When you shrink the gap between the top and the bottom, you get a morale problem at the top. But you also give people at the bottom an opportunity to actually rent a house around here,” he said. “So which problem would you rather have? Do you want the new people leaving after a few months? Or do you want the folks at the top being more disgruntled?”

Lapotka said he thought the county was having an easier time filling entry-level positions, thanks to efforts by the commissioners to increase starting salaries. “I think we're having a harder time maintaining some of those more mid-salary positions,” he said, suggesting a percentage increase would help rectify that issue.

Mark Clary, who heads Emergency Management, recounted the plight of an employee who received a pay increase Aug. 1 that was promptly gobbled up when the landlord raised her rent by $200 a month.

“Just bang, and then she's back right where she started. Now she's looking at getting a roommate, so she can still afford her rent,” he said, adding that she pays more in rent than he pays for a mortgage. “It's just ridiculous. People can't afford to live here, for one thing.”

The board also heard from Lake County Sheriff Don Bell, who makes less than some of the department’s senior deputies due to union negotiations that pay more for longevity. Merit increases were also mentioned, with Jeff Smith encouraging the commissioners to leave enough in the budget to reward exceptional employees for their efforts.

Decker, however, noted that many of the merit raises awarded by the county were given in an effort to reach wage parity. “That’s a budget killer too.”

Ultimately, the board voted to recommend a 6% across-the-board raise. The following day, the commissioners approved a raise of 5% across the board or $1 an hour, whichever amounts to more.

“We’re going to try hard to make it fit in the budget,” said Barron. “I always feel so bad for the lower-end people – their groceries are just as expensive as mine.”

He added that the increase should help the county both recruit and retain employees – which represents a savings in the long run. “I think it’s the responsible thing to do this year.”