By HOLLY GASKILL
Of all the 2023 budget items in Wednesday’s near 5-hour county council meeting, one theme prevailed — the effects of inflation.
Nearly every department reported a rise in their cost of operation because of inflation, and every department discussed how to balance budgets with the cost of living and struggle to keep employees.
“We’ve heard everything from next to nothing at three percent to some of these at 35 percent,” said Steve Huggins, county council president. “We’re not going to give somebody 20 percent and give these guys nothing. So, we’re going to have to talk about how we’re going to skin that cat.”
Some of the higher raises requested were from the offices of the county assessor, clerk, surveyor and treasurer — all of whom said they wanted to make their department salaries more comparable to similar counties.
Surveyor Jarrod Hahn said his salary has not kept up with the cost of living to the point where, dollar-for-dollar, it is less than when he was hired in 2005. Hahn requested raising his salary from $40,693 to $55,000, a 35.16 percent increase, and raising his deputy’s from $36,052 to $46,750, a 29.67 percent increase.
Assessor Kelly Herman acknowledged that the raises put the county in a difficult situation, but said it was needed.
“I do believe that pretty much everybody deserves more money,” Herman said. “I’m just asking, and I know that this may not happen, but I think that not just in my office, but maybe if you look across the board this should happen.”
Herman had requested raising her salary from $44,024 to $55,000, a 24.93 percent increase, and raising her two deputies’ salaries from $34,821 to $41,250, an 18.46 percent increase.
Several department heads also referenced the competition with positions available in the private sector, affecting retention rates and the ability to fill positions.
County council vice president Seth Wicker said this comparison was somewhat unfair.
“The benefits are different,” Wicker said. “There’s a lot to the equation beyond just the salary numbers we’re talking about. And also, I don’t remember the last time the government has laid off, but in the private sector, you do have to worry about it. The fact is, this has more job security, and some people will take a lower pay because they like that job security. There are a lot of dynamics that go into it.”
Council member Vicki Andrews said she appreciated that some departments tried to make budgets work with smaller increases, knowing that it ultimately comes from taxpayer dollars.
“I mean, some of the taxpayers are hurting more because they’re having to pay more,” Andrews said. “So, we’ve got to be thoughtful of all of that.”
The council members themselves had proposed a three percent raise, increasing their member budget from $50,666 to $52,185.
With or without these employee raises, the rising cost of oil, gas and other supplies is expected to be a significant expense in the budget as well.
In the highway department, Supervisor Shawn Bonar said they have attempted to conserve resources wherever possible but have still been affected significantly. Bonar expected to need an additional to get through this year and requested a 75 percent increase for next year — raising the department’s gas, oil and lube budget from $265,000 to $463,750.
The budget for the county jail also showed a $20,000 increase in gas.
Requests for various technology and software were also prominent among budget proposals. Several departments requested funds for new printers and scanners, several of which would be specialty printers.
The county council will meet again at 6 p.m. on Thursday to continue their discussion. The public hearing will be at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6 and it will be up for adoption at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4.
holly@news-banner.com
