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Commissioners hear data showing high FTE rates and rising personnel costs; staff to refine budget figures
Summary
Following a Buildings & Grounds space study and HR personnel review, commissioners discussed that Pennington County’s staffing per capita is above peer counties, and received preliminary personnel cost scenarios showing how COLAs and step increases would affect the provisional 2026 budget.
Pennington County commissioners on July 15 heard detailed staff briefings about county staffing projections, personnel costs and an initial personnel-cost model for the 2026 provisional budget.
Buildings & Grounds director Davis Purcell presented staffing projections used to calculate space needs and noted the county’s current head count and future growth scenarios tied to court, RCPD and jail projects. Commissioners repeatedly highlighted a staffing metric Purcell referenced: “7.2 FTEs per thousand,” a rate they contrasted with peer counties and national norms.
From HR, Human Resources Director Carol Bancroft and staff outlined public outreach and the hours‑of‑operation engagement (see separate article) and Treasury/HR presented preliminary personnel numbers for 2026. Those figures used a snapshot date (June 16, 2025), calculated open benefited positions and modeled the budget impact of different cost scenarios: 1% cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) would add roughly $1.1 million to personnel expenses, while a 4% COLA plus continued step increases could add about $3.0 million on top of staff’s baseline.
Why it matters: Commissioners emphasized that prior years’ wage and benefit decisions have driven significant budget increases. One commissioner summarized historical change: personnel increases combined with benefit costs pushed the county’s personnel spending up by millions in recent years. Commissioners asked staff to produce more granular historical rollups (five‑year history) showing the county’s COLAs, step increases and CPI in each budget year to inform decisions.
Key clarifications and next steps: Staff said current 2026 personnel projection (baseline requested by departments) showed roughly $73.0 million in personnel-related budget requests; HR’s reconciliation trimmed that preliminary number by over $3.0 million after removing unverified items. Staff will continue validating open positions, refine overtime assumptions (public safety vs. non‑public safety), and present additive scenarios for health‑insurance premium changes and step/market adjustments. Commissioners asked for a breakdown by department, plus comparison to Minnehaha and other counties, and a summary of elected‑official benefit policies.
What commissioners said: Several asked that any future personnel increases be tied to documented performance review practices and to a clearer, consistent wage‑scale application. Commissioners also requested transparency on how past wage‑scale and market adjustments were implemented across job classifications and what portion of prior increases went to specific employee groups.
Outcome: Staff will return with an updated personnel rollup, five‑year historical increases (COLA and steps), department‑level FTE lists, and options for staff costs in the provisional budget cycle.
