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Public health nursing slot to become seasonal; county to budget equivalent pay reduction
Summary
Riley County’s public-health director proposed converting one full-time registered nurse (RN) position into a seasonal 4-month RN post to match service demand and retain a current incumbent who will be locally present only part of the year. Commissioners asked staff to budget the equivalent of $15,061 as part of the adjustment.
Riley County’s public health leadership told commissioners they have an experienced RN who will move out of state for part of the year but return seasonally. To retain the person and align staffing with the department’s seasonal workload, the director proposed converting one full-time RN into a seasonal position covering the busiest months.
The director said the department’s patient volume spikes in the fall months and presented three options discussed internally (four-, five- or six-month seasonal windows). Commissioners and staff agreed to budget a four-month seasonal position in the near term and to include an additional budget equivalency of $15,061 in the worksheet to reflect the change.
Why it matters: the change is intended to preserve continuity of service during peak months while limiting annual personnel costs. Commissioners and department staff discussed trade-offs: seasonal workers do not receive county benefits if they remain under the county’s hours threshold for benefit eligibility (about 1,000 hours), and seasonal pay must remain competitive with contract nursing rates.
What commissioners asked: whether the county could recruit other seasonal nurses if the incumbent’s availability changes, whether seasonal compensation would be competitive, and how the change would affect service coverage year-round. Public health indicated it will continue to staff core services with remaining full-time staff and could adjust seasonal length if required by recruitment dynamics.
Outcome: Commissioners signaled consensus to convert the one RN slot to a seasonal position and to include the $15,061 budget adjustment (equivalent pay/budget line) while monitoring results and service impacts. Staff said they will monitor recruiting and service levels and return with data if adjustments are needed.
Ending: The action was treated as a personnel/administrative budget adjustment; commissioners did not take a formal roll-call vote but agreed by consensus to the change and directed budget staff to include the adjusted amount in the published worksheet.
