ITD seeks targeted pay increases, 53 new frontline positions to reduce turnover and close skills gaps

The Idaho Transportation Department told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee it is pursuing both additional frontline positions and targeted compensation increases to reduce high turnover among maintenance staff and to preserve institutional knowledge.

ITD said the Legislature approved 53 new maintenance positions last year to shore up district operations; the department said it has recruited about half of those positions so far. "We added 53 positions to our staff, all in district, frontline operational type positions," Director Scott Stokes said. "We're right at near 50 positions recruited." Stokes also said the department is still carrying roughly 60 to 70 vacancies overall and continues to recruit.

The department requested a targeted CEC to raise pay across maintenance horizontal career paths by $2.50 per hour for roughly 505 positions identified in the highway operations division. "If we only did the entry level, then we'd have this compression and they would be on top of each other," Stokes explained, describing the horizontal career path and why the department seeks to lift all pay steps. "So we wanna move the whole chart up $2.50."

ITD described the operational effect of turnover: many entry hires arrive without a commercial driver's license. Stokes said the department often spends six to 12 months training new hires to get a CDL and the additional qualifications needed to operate snowplows and other specialized equipment. "We're losing, the last 3 years, our average departure rate, just in maintenance employees, has been an average of 78 per year out of about 400," Stokes said, arguing that higher starting pay and faster progression would reduce recruiting and training churn.

Lawmakers asked how much the proposed increase would shield the department from private‑sector competition. Stokes said many departures are to counties and cities and that local governments often pay $20 to $25 an hour at entry, higher than ITD's historical starting wages. He told members that retention improved when ITD previously established career paths and raises but that the department still sees higher churn among entry workers. "Once we can get them here for 5 years or so, then this seems to stabilize," Stokes said.

Why it matters: ITD described the request as an operational budget choice tied to workforce continuity for snow removal, equipment operation and other maintenance tasks that directly affect highway reliability and safety. Committee members asked for more detail and said staff could follow up with targeted wage comparisons and lists of software and equipment where ongoing funding has shifted.

Ending: The committee asked ITD to return with more detailed wage‑survey comparisons, a breakdown of the new positions and follow‑up on software license and equipment funding.