By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A wage-and-benefit study conducted for Ellis County found that, in many instances, employees’ salaries lagged behind similarly sized entities.
A representative from Evergreen Consultants presented the Ellis County Commission with the firm’s findings at Monday night’s meeting.
Nancy Berkley from Evergreen said it would cost $224,667 per year to adjust salaries for 86 employees that fall into the lower range on the salary scale. The increase would get those employees to the minimum pay grade.
To get the 181 county employees to an average pay level in seven years would cost $1.3 million annually.
The study compared the salaries and benefits of county employees to 50 market peers including Dodge City, Garden City, Fort Hays State and Hays Medical Center.
County Administrator Greg Sund said it is going to take time to implement the changes.
“We didn’t get here in a day. We’re not going to get out of it in a day,” Sund said, “It’s going to take a plan.”
Commissioner Dean Haselhorst asked for Evergreen to present the commission with a breakdown of what each position makes compared to the minimum, average and maximum salary.
As it relates to hiring new employees, Sund said the current agreement the county has with the employees’ union requires all new employees to start at the minimum salary.
During the study, most employees told Evergreen they felt the county was a stable place to work but said they did not believe they could continue to work for the county if they were asked to pay for more of their benefits or did not receive a pay increase.
In other business Monday, the commission:
• Received updates from the architects working on the Law Enforcement Center and Courthouse and the Emergency Services building.
Crews remain approximately 60 days behind on the EMS building. Crew working on the Courthouse/LEC have also requested more time.
• Approved the purchase of cold mix asphalt from Hi-Plains Sand in Kanopolis for $27.50 per ton.
• Approved a resolution supporting the development of the R9 Ranch as a water source, although the commission plans to ask Hays city officials to meet with the commission to talk about the process and possibility of developing other sources.
• Gave approval for the engineer to install a guardrail on the Emmeram Road Bridge just west of Yocemento Road.
• Discussed a proposal from the city of Hays to help cover the cost of a presenter on Strong Towns, scheduled for May. The city asked the county to cover a quarter of the $2,500. The commission took no action on the proposal.