HR seeks assistant director post; county to revise salary administration policy

Human Resources staff asked the Administrative Services Committee on Sept. 3 to restore an assistant HR director role and outlined planned changes to the county's salary administration policy.

Request and rationale The HR presenter said the department supports about 1,200 employees, eight collective‑bargaining units and 40–50 retirees who remain on county medical coverage. The department has seven staff. The presenter said the assistant HR director role would restore capacity lost when a prior manager left and would be filled by internal promotion; the presenter described the request as intended to maintain a "leaner HR department" while preserving service levels.

Budget posture and insurance impact HR said its second‑year budget proposals are largely budget‑neutral and that the primary budget pressure is health‑insurance costs, already discussed in the IPBC presentation. The presenter said staff had carefully reviewed line items and reserved some budget lines for contingencies such as legal fees.

Salary administration policy timeline HR and county management told the committee they have identified five areas of the salary administration policy to review, will solicit department head input this month and plan to bring a revised policy and any necessary resolution back to the board in October.

Cost note and clarification During questions, the presenter referenced a supplemental cost tied to restoring the role and an increase figure that was not clearly stated in the record. The meeting record does not specify an exact dollar amount for the supplemental request; the presenter said the restoration would be handled by promotion and aligned with salary administration policies.

Ending: The committee accepted the presentation as an informational budget update and asked staff to return with proposed policy language and a clear fiscal impact statement in October.