ELIMINATING LONGEVITIES for Department Managers and setting a single pay rate for each position was discussed at the Sierra County Board of Supervisors’ meeting in Loyalton on January 17th. Longevity provides annual compensation to an employee based on seniority and is often given to employees at the top of the pay scale as compensation for their service.
Supervisor Lee Adams stated this was an item given to the Finance Committee. He said the salary system rewards County employees but doesn’t reward employees coming from outside the County as department managers, adding it could cause the County some liability. The committee wanted to work on this during a non-election year. Adams stated in looking at the department manager’s salary table there was no easy way to do this except to lock everybody into the longevity 5 pay scale. The Committee thought this seemed a reasonable alternative, adding some will get a 5% bump, 10% bump, or 15% bump. Adams said the finance committee talked about what to do with the employee who was already capped out and decided to give them a 5% bump. Adams stated if adopted no employee would get longevities again. The only raises will be cost of living (COLA) increases or raises from the Board. He said if a department head leaves and they appoint a county employee their longevities will go away and they will only get the salary for the office. Adams stated the idea was not to punish anybody but also not to break the bank. Sierra County Auditor Van Maddox said this is a savings over the current system, adding a $30,000 savings over the next decade. He stated management gave up 4% of their pay and are almost 24% below what the consumer price index was 10 years ago when they got the last COLA. Maddox said this doesn’t come anywhere close to closing that gap but it solves some problems he has been pointing out for years. Personally, he stated he would be better off with the current system but he still thinks it’s time to fix this especially for those elected and start moving forward. Supervisor Scott Schlefstein didn’t understand why elected and non-elected were in the same basket. Adams stated they could have ignored them but didn’t want to keep them on the odd system and wanted to treat everyone the same. He added for consistency and morale sake, it seemed the right thing to do. Sierra County Chief Probation Officer Jeff Bosworth stated the current system punishes people from coming from the outside. Other department managers in the audience were asked what they thought. Many didn’t have a strong opinion one way or another and some had no comment. Schleftstein felt it seemed like they were constantly taking away, but added the public has complained about longevities for years. Schlefstein wanted to take one agenda item, as it applies to these types of topics, at a time and not assume because one is favored the others are and because there weren’t many objections to the changes, Schlefstein made the motion to approve the resolution. Motion passed unanimously except for Supervisor Paul Roen who was caught in an ice storm in Iowa following a bull sale.
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Supervisor Lee Adams stated this was an item given to the Finance Committee. He said the salary system rewards County employees but doesn’t reward employees coming from outside the County as department managers, adding it could cause the County some liability. The committee wanted to work on this during a non-election year. Adams stated in looking at the department manager’s salary table there was no easy way to do this except to lock everybody into the longevity 5 pay scale. The Committee thought this seemed a reasonable alternative, adding some will get a 5% bump, 10% bump, or 15% bump. Adams said the finance committee talked about what to do with the employee who was already capped out and decided to give them a 5% bump. Adams stated if adopted no employee would get longevities again. The only raises will be cost of living (COLA) increases or raises from the Board. He said if a department head leaves and they appoint a county employee their longevities will go away and they will only get the salary for the office. Adams stated the idea was not to punish anybody but also not to break the bank. Sierra County Auditor Van Maddox said this is a savings over the current system, adding a $30,000 savings over the next decade. He stated management gave up 4% of their pay and are almost 24% below what the consumer price index was 10 years ago when they got the last COLA. Maddox said this doesn’t come anywhere close to closing that gap but it solves some problems he has been pointing out for years. Personally, he stated he would be better off with the current system but he still thinks it’s time to fix this especially for those elected and start moving forward. Supervisor Scott Schlefstein didn’t understand why elected and non-elected were in the same basket. Adams stated they could have ignored them but didn’t want to keep them on the odd system and wanted to treat everyone the same. He added for consistency and morale sake, it seemed the right thing to do. Sierra County Chief Probation Officer Jeff Bosworth stated the current system punishes people from coming from the outside. Other department managers in the audience were asked what they thought. Many didn’t have a strong opinion one way or another and some had no comment. Schleftstein felt it seemed like they were constantly taking away, but added the public has complained about longevities for years. Schlefstein wanted to take one agenda item, as it applies to these types of topics, at a time and not assume because one is favored the others are and because there weren’t many objections to the changes, Schlefstein made the motion to approve the resolution. Motion passed unanimously except for Supervisor Paul Roen who was caught in an ice storm in Iowa following a bull sale.
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