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Board agrees to top-of-grade bonus plan and discusses minimum-wage timing; staff to return with revenue offsets
Summary
Commissioners directed staff to add a 2.5% "top-of-grade" bonus for employees who cannot advance further on the pay scale and approved moving the mandated minimum-wage increase (6% in January 2023) into the FY23 schedule with an option to implement earlier if revenue offsets are identified.
County leaders used the March 15 budget work session to update a series of compensation policy choices that will affect thousands of county employees: commissioners endorsed a 2.5% top-of-grade supplemental payment for employees at the maximum of their pay scale and directed staff to include the state-mandated hourly minimum-wage increase in the proposed schedule, with a request to identify revenue offsets if the board wanted to accelerate implementation earlier than the state deadline.
Why it matters: The decisions affect recurring personnel costs across county government and influence recruitment and retention for hourly and top-scale staff. Commissioners discussed how to treat top-of-grade payments (as a bonus that does not increase retirementable pay) and whether to give the minimum-wage increase on the July 1 pay date or wait for the statutory January 2023 effective date.
What staff presented Jeanette Cudmore and HR staff summarized the compensation inputs incorporated to date: a 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), a 2.5% merit step (the packet described an aggregate estimate of about $2.3 million for COLA and step), a proposed top-of-grade alternative to the flat $500 stipend and the mandated January 2023 minimum-wage increase. HR reported roughly 95 employees were at top-of-grade and that replacing the flat stipend with a 2.5% top-of-grade bonus would cost about $231,928 annually, based on current top-scale salaries.
Commissioner discussion and decision Commissioners debated whether to keep the $500 top-of-grade stipend or replace it with a commensurate percentage bonus tied to the step the rest of employees receive. "It does not make sense that someone at top of grade gets $500, where someone who's lower got ... $1,500," one commissioner said, supporting a percentage-based top-of-grade payment. Several commissioners agreed to adopt the 2.5% top-of-grade approach; staff said they would incorporate the $231,928 estimate into the draft.
On minimum wage the board took two related decisions: (1) the legally required 6% increase for the hourly and enterprise scales is due January 2023 and must be budgeted, and (2) commissioners asked staff to provide options if the board wanted to accelerate part or all of that increase to July 1 for recruitment reasons. Staff estimated the six-month acceleration would cost roughly another $95,240 (about half of a full-year $190,480 estimate) and suggested the board could offset some of the early cost with fee increases where feasible.
Context and next steps Commissioners asked for a short memo showing potential revenue offsets if they chose to implement the minimum-wage increase early for July 1. Staff also will finalize the top-of-grade implementation language to clarify that the payment is a bonus (not pensionable) and will present the updated numbers in the next work session so the board can finalize the compensation package as part of the FY23 recommended budget.
Ending The board instructed staff to include the 2.5% top-of-grade bonus and the legally required minimum-wage increase in the draft FY23 budget and to return with scenarios that would allow the board to accelerate the minimum-wage timing if desired and funded.
