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Albany County commissioners agree to 1%/1.9% pay plan, split law-enforcement retirement increase
Summary
Commissioners settled on a pay/retirement package that applies a 1% increase for department heads and a 1.9% adjustment for regular employees, with sworn officers receiving a 1% pay raise plus a 0.9 percentage-point retirement contribution; funding will come from the county salary reserve if needed.
Albany County commissioners on Thursday agreed to a package of salary and retirement adjustments for county staff that commissioners said balances equity for law enforcement with a single-year cost control approach.
Under the plan commissioners described, department heads will receive a 1% increase, regular county employees will receive a 1.9% adjustment, and sworn law-enforcement officers will receive a 1% salary increase with an additional 0.9 percentage-point contribution directed to their retirement account (to be funded half by employees and half by the county for the currently pending increase). Commissioners said retirement increases for other employee groups will be evaluated by statute and grant restrictions.
The decision followed hours of discussion about budget constraints and where to place the cost. Tracy (staff member) told the group she is still reconciling cash-on-hand and that the county’s ability to cover the change depends in part on uncertain revenues such as PILT (payments in lieu of taxes). Amanda (staff member) confirmed that any county-side cost for the retirement increase would be paid from the county’s salary reserve if necessary. "That would come out of the salary reserve account," Amanda said during the meeting.
Commissioners discussed alternatives, including staging raises across multiple years or splitting increases between salary and retirement to avoid persistent base-salary growth. Several commissioners said they preferred a structure that provides immediate help to employees without permanently enlarging base salaries where grant-funded positions might be affected. "Two percent, whether it's 2% right — 1% now, 1% later — is still 2%," one commissioner said while explaining tradeoffs between immediate raises and deferred or nonrecurring payments.
County staff will update departmental salary lines and calculate the precise dollar impact before formal adoption of the budget. Tracy said she will present revised figures at the next budget update and that Amanda will update individual department salary lines.
The commissioners asked staff to use the county salary reserve to absorb the one-time/annual cost as required and to report back if the final cash-on-hand changes materially before final budget adoption.
The meeting included discussion about which employees are eligible for increases where grant funding does not allow pay adjustments; commissioners and staff agreed grants will be reviewed individually and that grant-funded positions will not automatically receive county-funded raises without explicit budget action. "Each grant we'll have to look at individually," Tracy said.
The session concluded with staff directed to finalize the numbers and incorporate the agreed approach into the proposed budget for the public hearing and final vote timeline.
