Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County approves pay adjustments for IT director and systems administrator to retain staff
Summary
Board approved market-based salary increases for the county IT director and the department's systems administrator after the director outlined local market comparisons and argued retention is critical to county operations.
Lincoln County commissioners on March 25 approved pay adjustments for positions in the information technology department after IT Director Jake Oakland presented salary comparisons and a retention rationale.
Oakland said his current salary is $137,872 and proposed raising the IT director range to $156,055 to better align with regional markets, citing Minnehaha County and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics medians. He also proposed increasing the systems administrator's pay from $36.36 per hour to $43.16 per hour; Oakland said the proposed increases would remain below some regional medians and that projected first-year costs would be covered by savings from a recently vacated position.
Commissioners asked whether Oakland had been recruited by other employers and discussed the department's small staff size; several commissioners praised the department's cost-savings work on county projects and said retention was important because replacing the director would be costly. Oakland said the change would be spending-neutral in year one, with the county auditor's office and the auditor confirming an estimated $2,000 remaining under the department's salary line in the initial year.
A motion to approve the wage changes, moved by Commissioner Otten and seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, passed on a roll-call vote with all commissioners voting yes.
Details of the approved adjustments (as presented): - IT director: current salary $137,872; proposed $156,055 (requested adjustment approved). - Systems administrator: current hourly $36.36; proposed hourly $43.16 (requested adjustment approved).
Oakland said the department has operated for years with a very small staff and that the county will continue to pursue one additional hire and an HR reclassification process to firm up job titles and ranges. Commissioners asked HR to review countywide salary structures when the new HR director starts.
