La Paz County' The La Paz County Board of Supervisors on June 30 approved updated salary schedules for positions in the assessor's office, a change county staff said aligns the assessor's pay ranges with other departments and addresses recruitment and retention pressures.

The change matters because salary schedules determine starting pay, step progression and internal pay ceilings that affect recruitment, retention and long-term personnel costs.

County staff presented the item on behalf of the absent assessor and said the updates did not change the assessor's overall general-fund allocation included in the adopted budget but did alter FTE assignments and step ranges. Staff said two previously unfunded positions in the assessor's office were unfunded to afford hiring a chief deputy, producing a net reduction of one FTE in the county'wide total. Staff described updates to start points and step ranges to be more competitive with surrounding employers and noted many departments are bringing new hires in at later steps because entry-level rates no longer attract experienced hires.

Staff also described operational rationale: offering a chief deputy position internally after training and retaining existing employees, extending top-of-scale steps for some positions so recent hires and managers have a career ladder, and aligning schedules with market rates. "So these are just kind of being updated as the need arises," a staff presenter said. The presenter emphasized the changes were implemented to retain employees such as the recently hired systems manager and chief appraiser candidate.

A supervisor asked whether additional changes to staffing plans were possible in the future; staff replied that while further reorganizations cannot be ruled out, the current salary schedules and the budget as adopted accomplish the assessor's immediate staffing goals.

The board voted to approve the updated salary schedules by voice vote. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned.