Keith County commissioners record routine approvals, set 2025 COLA and sign deferred-comp agreement

The Keith County Board of Commissioners voted on a series of routine and administrative items and set the county’s 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) at 3 percent.

The board approved the meeting agenda and minutes, approved payment of claims (after temporarily pulling a $5,515 physicians laboratory bill for clarification and then restoring it after staff explanation), and passed a motion to set the COLA at 3 percent for the 2025–26 budget year. The board also authorized the chair to sign a deferred compensation enrollment letter and approved several administrative renewals and authorizations, including health-plan and benefits documents and a Colonial Life group-products change.

Why this matters: Those votes set recurring personnel and benefits policy for the county and clear several contract and administrative items that affect payroll, employee take-home pay and vendor relationships for the coming fiscal year.

Key outcomes (high level) - COLA for 2025 set at 3 percent. - Physicians Laboratory claim for $5,515 initially pulled for clarification, then approved for payment after the attorney’s office clarified the case closing. - Chair authorized to sign deferred-compensation (deferred comp) enrollment documents so employees can begin contributing to supplemental retirement accounts if the county is accepted by the state retirement board. - Multiple administrative forms and renewals (benefits schedule, grandfathered plan registration, PHI authorization form) were authorized by motions and roll call votes.

Votes at a glance (each item recorded from the meeting record): 1) Approve agenda — motion by Schroeder, second by Wortman; roll call: motion carried. 2) Approve minutes of previous meeting — motion by Urban, second by Wortman; roll call: motion carried (Anderson recorded an abstain on that vote in the meeting record). 3) Payment of claims (with amendment to pull Physicians Laboratory for $5,515 pending clarification, pay all others) — motion by Urban, second by Schroeder; roll call: motion carried; later, after clarification from staff, motion by Irvin, second by Anderson to include Physicians Laboratory and pay it (case closed) — roll call: motion carried. 4) Set COLA for 2025 to 3 percent — motion by Ortman, second by Anderson; roll call: Schroeder yes, Irvin yes, Anderson yes, Wortman yes, Crandall yes; motion carried. 5) Authorize the chair to sign the deferred-compensation enrollment letter (allowing employees to opt into supplemental retirement accounts subject to state retirement board acceptance) — motion by Irvin, second by Schroeder; roll call: motion carried. 6) Approve renewal of employee benefits schedule (effective 07/01/2025) and authorize chair to sign — motion by Irvin, second by Wortman; roll call: motion carried. 7) Approve grandfather plan verification and registration (health plan paperwork) and authorize chair to sign — motion by Ervin, second by Schroeder; roll call: motion carried. 8) Approve signing of a PHI authorization form — motion by Schroeder, second by Irvin; roll call: motion carried. 9) Authorize Colonial Life to offer certain group products (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity and short-term disability) as group offerings (dental and cancer plans to remain individual) — motion by Urban, second by Wortman; roll call: motion carried.

What the votes do not do: The board’s approvals were largely procedural and administrative; they do not establish new taxes, zoning changes, or long-term contract awards beyond those administrative authorizations. The meeting included requests and budget requests brought forward by outside organizations (see other articles for details) that will be considered through normal budgeting channels.

Ending: The meeting record shows the board handled several housekeeping items and personnel-related policy choices that will feed into the county budget and payroll processes for 2025–26. Several non-routine agenda items — including public comment about a proposed racetrack and a discussion of a countywide fireworks ban — were considered separately during the same meeting.