Cass County commissioners forward six job reclassification requests to Gallagher for review

Cass County Board of Commissioners on an administrative meeting voted to forward six personnel classification requests to Gallagher, the county’s compensation consultant, for formal job-analysis review and grading.

The requests the commission approved to send to Gallagher included a reclassification request for the vector-control supervisor position, a request to re-evaluate an information-technology account technician (front-office) role, a request for a GIS specialist reclassification, a request to review the accounting manager position, and a request to replace an election-administrator FTE with a new financial-analyst role. Commissioners also approved creating advancement steps for an existing security analyst classification so employees can promote from Security Analyst 1 to 2 and 3 under an established advancement policy.

The action matters because Gallagher’s review determines whether the county will adjust pay grades, minimum qualifications and formal classifications — changes that shape recruitment, retention and internal pay equity across county departments. Several department heads told the commission they had not completed PAQ (position-analysis questionnaire) reviews for these positions in many years and argued duties have changed materially.

Department heads summarized the primary reasons for each submission. Kyle Litchi said the vector-control supervisor’s PAQ had not been updated since 2018 and that the incumbent now supervises a full-time staff member, manages 40–45 seasonal employees at peak, and has added GIS mapping, time-and-materials tracking and increased certification/training responsibilities. An IT official (Bob) described how an information-technology account technician’s duties have shifted from accounting tasks to being the first stop for technical support, onboarding automation and process ownership; the role is currently graded B21 and the department seeks re-evaluation (they suggested a target closer to B22). The same IT presenter said the county’s GIS specialist role has moved from producing ad-hoc maps to managing back-end GIS infrastructure and automation (FME workflows), enterprise licensing and staff training — duties he said had not been reviewed since about 2017.

Grady, identified in the meeting as the finance director, said the accounting manager role (currently D61) last underwent classification review in 2012 and has expanded after the auditor and treasurer offices were combined; the position now supervises five direct reports and the county is proposing a bachelor’s-degree requirement in accounting for the role if reclassified. The finance office also proposed replacing an election-administrator FTE with a new financial-analyst position (C52 base) to handle cash-flow management, state-mandated central voter file support, property-tax software and other systems-management duties; staff said recruitment would occur immediately if the PAQ is approved because the role supports upcoming 2026 election work.

On the IT advancement item, staff acknowledged an administrative omission when the security-analyst role was first created and asked the commission to authorize Security Analyst 2 and 3 steps to mirror the existing IT analyst advancement steps (proposed grades C43 and C51). The county described a merit-based advancement policy for IT roles requiring minimum time-in-step (two years from 1 to 2; five years from 2 to 3), preapproved training and demonstrable project work.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the degree to which duties changed (the county repeatedly cited increased technical responsibilities, supervision and automation/infrastructure work) and confirmed that the actions taken were referrals to Gallagher for external review rather than final reclassifications or immediate pay changes. Each motion to forward the requests, and to create the security-analyst advancement steps, carried without recorded opposition.

Votes at a glance: all personnel-related submissions considered at the meeting were approved to be forwarded to Gallagher for classification review (commissioners recorded unanimous "Aye" on each motion). Specific effective dates noted in discussion: the accounting-manager reclassification request, if approved by Gallagher, would be effective Jan. 1, 2026; the proposed financial-analyst position would be filled immediately if approved because it fits an existing budgeted FTE.

Department heads and commissioners flagged several implementation and administrative points for follow-up: standardizing account-tech titles to avoid confusion across departments, reconciling legacy GIS-specialist PAQs in the county’s HR system, and ensuring internal advancement policies are clearly documented and applied consistently across departments.

The commissioners did not take final classification or pay actions at the meeting; the referrals will return to the board if Gallagher recommends grade changes or reclassification outcomes.