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Webster County HR presents budget breakdown, flags recruiting challenges for specialty roles
Summary
Devon of Webster County human resources reviewed proposed HR budget line items — including a roughly $10,000 annual NeoGov fee, $1,000 for background checks (about $15 per check), and a $2,000 advertising line — and warned that some specialty positions are drawing few qualified applicants.
Devon, human resources, reviewed the department's proposed budget and itemized costs for the coming year, calling attention to recruitment challenges for specialty positions and recurring software and background-check expenses.
Devon told meeting participants that the HR budget includes $1,200 for office supplies; $1,000 for magazines and periodicals; $1,000 each for training materials and school instruction; $100 for postage; and $250 for telephone expenses. For recruitment, Devon said the county has relied largely on free posting channels but may need to spend to reach specialized candidates.
"I put 1,000 just from the standpoint of they want to belong to any of the HR associations out there," Devon said about the periodicals line. On background checks, Devon noted the typical cost is about $15 per submission and said a $1,000 line item should cover anticipated needs: "It costs $15 for each I submit process." Devon also described the county's applicant flow, saying that for recent clerk openings "we had over a 100 people apply," but specialty roles were yielding only "4 or 5 candidates."
Devon identified the county's digital hiring platform and related costs: "The 10,000 covers the annual fee that we pay to use access neogov," they said, adding that the actual figure may be closer to $9,000 next year. Devon said NeoGov posts to government job aggregators and links to ISAC, which together capture the majority of applicants for many roles.
Board members asked where job postings are shared. Unidentified Speaker 1 asked whether the county uses IowaWORKS; Devon said the county also posts through Growth Alliance, Indeed and other channels, but that paid promotion on Indeed is sometimes required to keep listings at the forefront. "When you put money towards something, it has to help," Devon said, describing paid postings as "hit and miss."
Unidentified Speaker 3 pointed to the HR advertising line of $2,000, the same amount budgeted last year, and suggested using that fund to promote hard-to-fill positions. Devon said the EMS coordinator posting for "Nikki" did not receive strong response on its first run and that staff will monitor the second posting and consider using advertising dollars if necessary.
The presentation closed with thanks from meeting participants and no formal vote on the budget at this session. Next steps discussed included monitoring applicant flow for the EMS coordinator role and using the $2,000 advertising line selectively for positions that yield too few qualified candidates.
