Klamath County approves 7% stipend and temporary reclassification for finance analyst on Tyler ERP project

Klamath County Commissioners approved a 7% stipend for a finance analyst assigned as project manager for the county's Tyler enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollout and moved the position from nonexempt to exempt.

The stipend equals $6,735.31, finance staff said, and the county expects the project assignment to last approximately 18 months. Finance staff told the board the employee has been working 50 to 60 hours a week and that recent payroll actions required a comp-time payout after the employee hit the cap.

The board's discussion focused on the fiscal impact and the county's policy on stipends. A commissioner said the county has generally used stipends for short-term assignments and cited a 90-day cap in policy; other members said this assignment is "project specific" and recommended treating it as a one-time, temporary measure until the Tyler rollout is complete and a formal reclassification can be completed. Finance staff said there is no additional fiscal impact from changing the FLSA classification alone.

The motion to approve the 7% stipend and reclassify the position carried on a voice vote. The meeting record does not list individual roll-call votes.

County staff said they will perform a salary survey and prepare a new job description when project duties stabilize later in the ERP implementation process. That reclassification work will be brought back to the board at the appropriate time.

Fiscal detail: the stipend was presented as a 7% increase equal to $6,735.31; the county described the reclassification move as having no fiscal impact separate from the stipend.