Creole County commissioners used the July 28 workshop to press staff for clearer, auditable details about step raises, merit increases and how those commitments affect long-term payroll obligations.
Lede: Commissioners asked that staff produce a department-level tally showing which employees are eligible for step raises, the dollar value of those raises in FY2026 and how the county will account for ongoing versus one-time merit payments.
Why it matters: Commissioners said they need a reliable, single source of truth in payroll data to understand recurring versus one-time personnel costs. One commissioner noted that adding a $9,000 "merit" increase for certain positions as a permanent salary add-on would create a compounding fiscal obligation in subsequent years unless treated as a one-time payment.
Details: Staff explained their process: the treasurer maintains a spreadsheet tracking step schedules and hire dates, but extracting the total dollar impact across 220 employees is tedious. Commissioners asked staff to supply (1) the total FY2026 cost of all scheduled step raises and (2) a forecast of how those costs carry forward into future budgets (including associated retirement and FICA costs).
Outcome: Staff agreed to return with a step-raise tally and an estimate of related payroll costs; the court did not adopt policy changes on merit pay during the meeting but instructed staff to provide data that would allow the court to choose whether to treat certain increases as one-time or ongoing.
Ending: The matter will be revisited in follow-up budget workshops once staff supplies the requested payroll totals and scenarios.