[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":56,"_73":56},"mediaId",6278482,"mediaKeyId","2640961-9b589ff38405049d7e1b7fae0e3ece76","parentId",2640961,"title","Position review committee recommends two top hires; departments request dozen more positions including stormwater engineer and fire staffing","audioSeconds",3629,"startMs",3019000,"endMs",6648000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2640961-9b589ff38405049d7e1b7fae0e3ece76&start=3019&end=6648","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2640961-9b589ff38405049d7e1b7fae0e3ece76/thumbnail_3019000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6278482/Carroll-County/Maryland/Position-review-committee-recommends-two-top-hires-departments-request-dozen-more-positions-including-stormwater-engineer-and-fire-staffing","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6278482-add46b24dc119b47c61fd166ce7e79fe/orig.mp4?Expires=1771163857&Signature=dGlQT47yoA4oHivIlKnj3k5fiCnpYDfskPTIIQW5qnENpyTKkZCxN6eUDRYvadDGFVBsp0Ho~YEr4wjKVWLS6WLVRUSdJeVFSa3cuUy2IN3HyRyMiYTlar4SDAIO2S4-xYZev1E-Sy~7ftv0pxNACf7YKk1yruOD-FQdW0Iv-vLXitOTHkfRv~B5GBfqHt6ymU5uZzCA4x-9CXDP3ttNPr~uOtDYMpSyBIjjeM57BRS5W9zWZnSMfub-LIBZSFt9bR55R~dKUkZDFZob3dU8oNG29q2FWyWl7GLH5TvoruBo9MFsDmgCle5WXaaZ37N~uUEEdjQGInvoq1-MR2FmNw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-03-13T19:50:09Z","article","The Carroll County Position Review Committee briefed commissioners on Monday and recommended two positions as the highest priorities for FY26 funding: converting a temporary stormwater program engineer to a permanent role in Planning and Land Management and adding a fourth maintenance specialist to the Recreation & Parks community parks crew.

Deputy County Administrator Deb Effingham told commissioners the committee considered 28 requests and that each role brought to the meeting was ranked as a high priority by at least four of six committee members; the two recommended positions earned the strongest consensus.

Why it matters: these staffing additions would change daily service capacity in development review and park maintenance and carry multi‑year budget implications. The meeting also gathered presentations from departments asking the commissioners to consider a wider slate of positions during FY26 budget deliberations.

Stormwater program engineer request
Chris Hine, Bureau Chief in the county’s Bureau of Resource Management, asked commissioners to make a temporary stormwater program engineer position permanent. He described a long run of regulatory changes that increased review complexity — notably the 2010 stormwater code revisions and subsequent permit (NPDES) and county responsibilities — and said that a previous restructuring had reduced stormwater review capacity. Hine recounted using contracting and a temporary county hire to control an evaluation backlog and said the temporary position’s funding expires this June. He recommended permanent status so the bureau keeps two program engineers and a review technician on staff.

Hine gave two operational reasons for the permanent post: maintaining a 30‑day turnaround target for reviews (turnaround briefly rose to 50–60 days during staff absences) and preparing for another set of MDE regulation changes expected the coming calendar year that will raise review complexity again. He also said municipalities routinely ask Carroll County to perform development reviews and that the city of Taneytown has asked the county to resume its review work for that municipality. Hine estimated the all‑in cost (salary, benefits, payroll tax, pension) of the permanent position at about $150,000 per year.

Rec & Parks: maintenance specialist
Brad and Bob Hicks (Rec & Parks staff) described the county’s community parks program, which this year has maintained 27 unstaffed parks through two teams that operate out of two mobile units. The bureau has a foreman plus three maintenance specialists; the foreman frequently serves as the second member of a two‑person crew, limiting supervisory time for contract oversight, inspections and work‑order creation. Hicks said single‑person work also creates safety risks for tasks that require two staff (operating chainsaws, moving heavy picnic tables) and complicates leave coverage. The bureau requested a fourth maintenance specialist, estimated at a “mid‑eighties” ongoing cost (~$85,000), to restore supervisory capacity and reduce safety and continuity risks.

Agency hearings: other high‑priority requests
Several departments presented other high‑ranked requests during a series of agency hearings.
- Citizen Services / Aging & Disabilities requested an Office Associate to support five senior/community centers and over two dozen program lines. Bureau Chief Gina Valentine and a Citizen Services presenter said growth in call volume, increased grant and contract oversight under the Older Americans Act final rule and new program lines (e.g., dimension navigation, state retiree assistance) has created substantial administrative strain. Staff reported the all‑in cost at about $85,000 for a C7 classification.
- Recreation and Parks requested a Recreation Coordinator for the Charles Carroll Community Center (the facility opened in FY24). Rec staff said the center has grown from opening month usage and that a dedicated on‑site staff person would help establish consistent scheduling and programming. Staff estimate the ongoing cost for a C10 coordinator (including benefits) at roughly $97,000.
- Public Safety’s emergency communications section asked for two 32‑hour‑per‑week, part‑time 9‑1‑1 call‑taker positions to help with high call volumes and retention; Emergency Communications Manager Ashley Bergen said the positions would focus on call taking (not radio dispatch) and enable targeted coverage of peak hours. Each part‑time position was estimated at roughly $55,000 (all‑in), about $110,000 for the two positions combined.
- Department of Fire & EMS described two priorities: two training and safety lieutenants to staff the county training center and serve as on‑scene incident safety officers, and restoring 12 “floater” field positions to reduce mandatory and voluntary overtime. County fire leadership explained that training, compliance with OSHA/MOSH and NFPA standards, learning‑management administration, credentialing and modified‑duty case management have fallen largely to a single chief of training and safety. The department estimated each training/safety lieutenant at roughly $100,000 all‑in and noted the department would repurpose existing training vehicles; the 12 floaters were estimated at roughly $100,000 each (a total near $1.2 million) as a budgetary rule‑of‑thumb used in the department presentation. Fire leadership framed floaters as a tool to reduce overtime, fatigue and attrition; commissioners asked for more detailed costing and operational analysis before decisions.
- Economic Development / Workforce Development asked for a permanent administrative position (Operations and Resource Manager) currently funded by ARPA/Blueprint grants; staff said the grant funding expires in December 2025 and asked the county to consider continuing the position in general fund support. Economic Development staff noted the department has shouldered increased responsibilities since 2021 (WIOA and the county’s independent workforce area status) and that the admin post supports board operations and complex grant fiscal management. The estimated all‑in cost was about $78,000–$80,000.

Commissioner questions and next steps
Commissioners raised follow‑up questions about cost‑sharing with municipalities for stormwater reviews, the current fee matrix for development reviews, the precise distribution of stormwater reviews across municipalities, and the accuracy of the fire department’s overtime‑savings calculations. Deb Effingham suggested the board could take a broader look at town‑county agreements and jurisdictional cost‑sharing as part of the budget review rather than make an immediate decision.

No formal action or votes were taken on the position requests during the hearing; commissioners asked staff to provide more detailed cost estimates, workload distributions and options for cost‑sharing so they can weigh departments’ requests during upcoming FY26 budget sessions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of County Commissioners Open Session Afternoon March 13, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Carroll County Position Review Committee briefed commissioners on Monday and recommended two positions as the highest priorities for FY26 funding: converting a temporary stormwater program engineer to a permanent role and adding a maintenance specialist to the Recreation & Parks community parks crew.","taxTitle","Carroll County, Maryland","taxId",7748,"location","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":56,"_73":56},6278487,"Carroll County HR urges attention to tight labor market, unveils new job-classification plan",1392,118000,1510000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2640961-9b589ff38405049d7e1b7fae0e3ece76&start=118&end=1510","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2640961-9b589ff38405049d7e1b7fae0e3ece76/thumbnail_118000.jpg","/articles/6278487/Carroll-County/Maryland/Carroll-County-HR-urges-attention-to-tight-labor-market-unveils-new-job-classification-plan","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6278487-05589fe13eb94d0f679da9d2923ce791/orig.mp4?Expires=1771163857&Signature=Ct2TorPhiutTs6~8JrzY7MQJZ0GRlyyDPfoSFVdemM6aHpeqtDAq1hy3AYW1OuzjFjaLu~nMld3J19FnyY3kfPQQtxltb5io5Qm1GHjnc1-XjiD1rod3vxRtulAmJ9eho-~OUbZpC4oR6zd7kYDBTr42MThE-dmXbLDHw0wwdm23kZPTlbog2K1RY8UWtnLh2x0fmS6pvtFzKmsDJX7C02mB1Vga-MKyXCMIZfOQM0pNkC6ePWUOsU6QSSnWUtsXB~CqceZUnCqbIg-zrVArP5CRt-iRqpw3cqMfNS9~Y4KP-hNC8~tK-tabA9tWPWtwi4XDyAmGaRSi137USDDiBw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Carroll County Director of Human Resources Christie Bixler told county commissioners on Monday that the county is operating in a tight labor market, with low unemployment, rising compensation costs and local inflation that together make recruiting and retaining employees a continuing challenge.

Bixler presented hiring and vacancy numbers, consumer price (CPI) and compensation trends, and a multi-year position‑description and classification project that county staff say will produce separate pay scales for exempt and nonexempt staff and reduce inconsistencies in how positions are classified.

The presentation matters because commissioners will use the information as they consider wage increases and other personnel funding choices in the FY26 budget. Bixler said the county must be able to compete for workers who are often receiving higher offers in the private sector.

Bixler said Carroll County’s labor force has remained relatively stable while the local unemployment rate rose to an average of about 2.3% in early 2024. She also cited federal Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showing compensation costs for state and local workers rose roughly 4.7% for the 12‑month period ending December 2024; wages were about 4.5% and benefit costs about 4.9% in that span. “Compensation costs have increased 4.7%,” she said, summarizing the national data in the county briefing.

On local staffing, Bixler said the county employed 839 people (not counting authorized but vacant positions) and had filled a number of vacancies over the past year; she reported roughly 71 current vacancies countywide and cited particular trouble filling emergency communications specialists, truck drivers and some fire/EMS roles. She told commissioners the county had 50 hires so far in 2025 and had 86 non‑fire/EMS separations in 2024. Bixler said many candidates decline job offers because Carroll’s pay cannot match offers they receive elsewhere. “Just this morning, we had two employees that were supposed to start today…one had indicated the pay rate she was receiving was almost double what we were able to offer,” she said.

Bixler also described the county’s response efforts: renewed recruiting events, continued partnerships with workforce development and local colleges, an expanded internship program, and a referral bonus program the board approved last year. She said 27 employees have submitted referrals and that payout timing depends on completing probation (fire/EMS employees typically have a one‑year probation period).

On benefits and transparency, Bixler noted changes to co‑pays and employee contributions that took effect January 1 and described impacts from Maryland’s pay‑transparency law requiring full pay ranges be posted on job advertisements; Bixler said that transparency has driven some candidates to assume they will be hired at the top of a range.

A major part of Bixler’s briefing was a multi‑year effort to update job descriptions and the county classification structure. HR staff reviewed about 417 job descriptions, implemented a competency framework (core and leadership competencies), used the Quinto system to set job family and job‑specific competencies, and re‑rated positions on compensable factors (education, experience, scope, responsibility) to determine appropriate pay ranges. The result will be two distinct pay scales — one for exempt (salaried) employees and one for nonexempt (hourly) employees — and recommendations to move some roles from hourly to salaried where appropriate. Bixler said funds to make required pay adjustments when positions move to higher classifications are already in the budget and would not require new money.

Commissioners asked for a total‑cost estimate for proposed wage increases; Bixler said HR can work with the budget office to provide that figure. She also confirmed that benefit costs have not decreased overall but have changed in structure (co‑pays, contributions) and that some program changes reduced benefits in limited areas. “I would be hard pressed to find a benefit that has decreased,” she said, adding that overall changes were intended to bring employee contributions more in line with the market.

Next steps: HR will deliver the classification recommendations and new pay ranges to department directors for review as the county enters budget deliberations. Bixler said the next steps also include continuing outreach and the recruitment initiatives described to reduce vacancies.

The presentation was informational; no formal votes were taken during the HR briefing.","Human Resources Director Christie Bixler told commissioners that Carroll County faces a tight labor market, low unemployment, rising compensation costs and inflation and described a multi-year job‑description and classification overhaul intended to increase transparency and correct pay inequities.","actionData","errors"]

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Position review committee recommends two top hires; departments request dozen more positions including stormwater engineer and fire staffing

Carroll County HR urges attention to tight labor market, unveils new job-classification plan