Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Employee Pay Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Yankton County weighs cutting automatic step raises; task force to propose pay plan before budget
Summary
Commissioners debated eliminating or limiting automatic step raises after staff and department heads applied multiple steps in some cases. A commission task force will draft a recommendation before budget season; commissioners passed a requirement that written justification accompany step increases for the rest of the year.
YANKTON, S.D. — Yankton County commissioners opened a weeks-long discussion about employee pay structure on a motion to review or reduce automatic step increases amid concern that some departments have been giving multiple-step raises as a routine practice.
Commissioners described the existing wage matrix and step structure and said some departments have been awarding two-step increases in addition to cost-of-living adjustments, which can result in significantly larger annual raises. "The cost of living increase is automatic," one commissioner said during the discussion; "anything beyond that should be done by merit."
Commissioner Dan (first speaker on the topic) said the county should examine whether the step-and-grade matrix is being applied consistently and proposed putting more discretion in department headshands for merit-based increases. Several commissioners asked the countys financial planning task force to draft a uniform recommendation. The task force, which commissioners said includes three department heads and two commissioners, was asked to deliver an initial proposal before the countys budget process begins; commissioners asked for a first draft within about 30 days and final implementation by Jan. 1 of the next year.
At the meeting the commissioners debated a temporary approach while the task force works: limiting department heads to awarding a single step (rather than multiple steps) for the remainder of the year and making any step award accompanied by a written justification. After discussion, the commission approved a motion to add a justification requirement for any step or grade increases for the rest of the year and to ask the task force to propose a new, uniform pay program to implement by Jan. 1. "If the employee is doing average work, there is no increase," one commissioner said; another asked that department heads be required to sign and explain any raises.
Why this matters: County payroll is a major part of the general fund, and commissioners said rising costs and uncertain state and federal funding warrant tighter controls and clearer, uniform procedures for merit increases. Commissioners and department heads traded proposals on caps and timing; one cap discussed for discretionary increases above CPI was 1.25 percent as an example, but no mandatory cap was adopted pending task-force recommendations.
The meeting also included executive-session discussion later in the agenda; following executive session, the commission voted to terminate one county employee. That termination motion was handled separately and recorded on the public roll at the meetings end.
Next steps: The financial planning task force will produce a draft pay-plan recommendation for the commission ahead of budget season; in the meantime the commission requires written justification for any step increases submitted for the remainder of the year.
