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Commissioners debate COLA and merit structure; staff to scope performance‑audit style review
Summary
Commissioners considered adjusting the balance between COLA and merit pay (options discussed included increasing merit to 4% and reducing COLA), studying elected officials' pay treatment, and creating departmental 'pots' for merit distribution; staff was asked to define a clear scope for additional analysis and return with options.
A substantial portion of the meeting focused on compensation policy — the distribution between cost‑of‑living adjustments (COLA), merit awards and how elected officials are treated in the pay structure.
Speaker 5 said the current half‑percent COLA for elected officials is negligible in practice and suggested moving merit to a higher level ("move your merit up to 4") so high performers receive more meaningful increases. Several commissioners discussed the idea of establishing a departmental 'pot' so managers can allocate merit awards where they make the most operational sense rather than increasing every employee's pay uniformly.
Speaker 2 recommended commissioners define the scope of what they want studied—similar to a performance audit—so staff can return with meaningful data and pros/cons for options such as revamping the merit system, changing COLA amounts or altering how elected officials are compensated. Commissioners agreed further research and a follow‑up meeting were appropriate before making permanent changes to policy.
