Cole County approves salary increases for child support staff, authorizes countywide salary-study RFP

Cole County commissioners on March 11 approved salary increases for two staff in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office Child Support Division and a 5.5% raise for the county purchasing agent, and voted to authorize a request for proposals for a countywide salary study.

The increases for the Child Support Division were presented by the office's representative, who said the raises would be covered entirely by state reimbursements and would not come from county funds. "Everything that we have requested is fully covered by the amount that's been allocated to us from the state of Missouri," the Prosecuting Attorney said, adding the proposed promotions reflected experience and performance. Commissioners approved the motion to adopt the proposed salaries.

Commissioners also approved a 5.5% pay increase for the county purchasing agent after the finance director requested the adjustment. The finance director said an updated job description supported the request; a commissioner moved and the board voted in favor.

The commission spent more than an hour debating whether to commission a new salary study for county positions. Supporters said a modern study would provide an impartial, document-based starting point for budgeting and reduce ad-hoc requests for raises. One commissioner noted that in prior work the Archer study provided a useful guide even though full implementation proved difficult. Opponents and skeptics raised concerns about how job descriptions would be written, who would approve them and whether elected officials would be bound by the study's results.

After discussion, commissioners amended a motion to authorize the finance director to draft a request for proposals (RFP) for a countywide salary study and to return the RFP to the commission for approval before release. The commission approved the amendment and the motion.

Several elected officials and department heads told commissioners they were generally supportive of a study if elected officials retained a role in reviewing job descriptions and the study included a plan for future updates. Commissioners also discussed the county's revenue outlook and warned that any long-term pay plan would be subject to available funds and future revenue changes.

The action on the salary study was procedural: commissioners authorized the finance director to prepare an RFP and return it for approval; no vendor contract or spending was authorized at the March 11 meeting.

Commissioners concluded the salary-related business by directing staff to bring the drafted RFP and the paperwork for the approved pay adjustments back to the board for final signatures and implementation steps.