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ITD requests targeted pay increases to stem turnover among maintenance crews; committee seeks detail
Summary
Idaho Transportation Department requested targeted career‑path pay increases equivalent to about $2.50 an hour for maintenance staff and submitted a separate targeted request for engineering/financial roles; lawmakers asked for retention data, wage comparisons, and how increases would interact with statewide CEC proposals.
The Idaho Transportation Department asked JFAC for targeted compensation adjustments aimed at lowering high turnover among maintenance workers and to support recruitment for critical frontline roles.
Director Scott Stokes told the committee ITD wants a targeted career‑path pay increase that would affect about 505 maintenance positions and raise hourly pay steps by $2.50. The proposal is intended to lift starting and step rates across each of ITD’s horizontal career paths so pay remains progressive across the four step levels, rather than compressing pay at the top of a step if only entry rates are raised.
Why it matters: ITD said turnover is concentrated among entry maintenance workers and creates recurring training costs (for example, obtaining Commercial Driver Licenses and equipment training). Stokes said the department’s average departures for maintenance roles have been about 78 employees per year out of roughly 400 maintenance staff, and that raising whole career‑path pay rates should improve retention.
Lawmakers pressed ITD for evidence and comparisons. Representative Horman and Senator Mitchell asked whether private and local government employers would match higher state pay and whether ITD had done a wage survey. Stokes said the department has surveyed county and city pay rates and found most local governments pay $20–$25 per hour for comparable entry jobs; he said ITD’s entry pay was approximately $18.55 per hour and that raising pay helped retention in past years.
Committee members requested additional analysis of how the targeted adjustment would interact with any committee or statewide Classified Employee Compensation (CEC) increases, and asked ITD to provide the committee with details on the affected job classifications, the number of positions at each step, and the projected cost and timeline for implementation.
