Council reviews finance and payroll changes as grant workload rises
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Summary
Council staff reviewed the draft finance and payroll sections, noting salary increases to retain staff and a grant accountant handling 58 grants plus about $100 million in grant revenue. Payroll changes include a small $500 training increase to support certification for newly hired staff.
Speaker 1 opened the finance review on the draft budget (page 28), saying director positions had no operating budget increases and that proposed changes were limited to salary adjustments to retain staff. "He’s got 58 grants in addition to ARP, and he’s handling a 100,000,000 in grant in grant revenues right now," Speaker 1 said, describing an unexpectedly heavy workload for the grant accountant.
The presentation said several salaried staff left in recent years for higher pay and that the proposed salary adjustments aim to make salaried positions commensurate with non‑salaried staff they supervise. On payroll, Speaker 1 said the only line‑item change is roughly $500 added for training to encourage newly hired payroll staff (three people) to pursue certification and to pay for continuing legal and regulatory training.
Speaker 1 said gaps in staffing this year led to lower training spending but that the department wants to encourage certification and professional development going forward. No formal motions or votes were recorded on salary or payroll changes during the discussion.
The council did not provide a resolution tied specifically to the payroll training increase; next steps were described as drafting final budget language and incorporating corrections before adoption.