Dickinson County adopts scaled-down pay plan for 2025, $695,183 projected cost

The Dickinson County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 9 approved a scaled-back employee compensation package for 2025, after a lengthy presentation from the county's compensation consultant and questions from commissioners and members of the public. The package — referred to in the meeting as Plan D — includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for 141 active employees and a set of pay-scale and compression adjustments the county estimates will cost $695,183 in 2025.

County consultant Phil, who led the presentation, told the commission the updated plan was a response to public and commissioner feedback and described it as a way to "pump the brakes" while addressing longstanding pay compression across many job grades. "This plan D certainly allows us a path forward that we pump the brakes," Phil said during his presentation.

Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said the county faces recruitment and retention pressures while balancing taxpayer concerns about budget size. Commissioners pressed for clarity about the plan's fiscal impact and the relationship between base salary changes and the county's benefit costs.

Key details - Core elements: a 3% across-the-board COLA for roughly 141 active employees; reduced adjustments to base pay scales; a $6,000 cap (limiter) on high-dollar compression adjustments for a subset of employees. - Cost estimate: $695,183 for 2025 with staff noting that the county had budgeted for larger amounts earlier in the budget process. The consultant said fully addressing all historical compression without the $6,000 cap would cost about $873,000 in 2025. - Employees affected: With the reduced scale, the consultant said roughly 96 employees would be in the compressed population (down from 112 in an earlier version), with 31 employees subject to the $6,000 cap. The presentation identified job classifications and some positions with notable compression, including elected officials (clerk, treasurer, sheriff), an assistant county attorney, several correctional staff and long‑tenured equipment operators. - Implementation approach: The consultant recommended adopting the reduced pay scales and the 3% COLA for 2025, then managing remaining compression through targeted steps in 2026 (including pay-scale maintenance and step progression), estimating an additional $389,000 impact in 2026 under that approach.

Commission and public exchange Commissioners and residents asked how benefit costs interact with the pay changes. A county staff member said the 2025 budget had already included benefit costs based on the higher figures discussed during the study process, and therefore the benefits portion was covered for 2025.

One public commenter and some commissioners emphasized the operational consequences of losing tenured staff, saying turnover costs can be higher than initial pay increases. The consultant noted that post‑COVID labor-market changes had increased retention pressure and that benefits remain an important recruitment and retention factor.

Outcome Commissioner action: A motion to adopt the compensation package described as Plan D, with the elements described above and a projected 2025 cost of $695,183, carried on a voice vote. The motion was seconded and the board announced the motion carried.

What happens next County staff and the consultant recommended plan implementation for 2025 with follow-up steps in 2026 to address remaining compression and to implement formal pay-scale maintenance. Commissioners asked staff to continue providing detail on benefits and budget impacts as implementation proceeds.

Ending The commission adopted the plan after discussion and public comment and instructed staff to carry out the approved changes and return with any follow-up information or required administrative steps.