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Oneida County committee weighs four-day workweek for highway crews amid mixed cost projections
Summary
Highway staff presented multi-year data comparing a four-day/ten-hour schedule to a five-day/eight-hour workweek; staff projected modest to negligible additional county costs under some assumptions, while committee members urged further review by finance before any change.
Highway Commissioner Alex Hegeman and Highway Department staff outlined analyses Feb. 5 comparing a four-day/ten-hour workweek and a traditional five-day/eight-hour schedule for winter storm response, prompting committee requests for additional finance review before a policy change.
The presentation, led by Hegeman and data analyst Dan Gleason, used winter-storm-hour records beginning in 2018 and averages of mobilization, call pay and overtime to model costs. Gleason said the state historically covered roughly 59.3% of storm wages and benefits, with the county covering 40.7%. He presented multiple scenarios: one projection using recent averages estimated a four-day schedule could increase county costs by about $8,300 (including benefits) and raise overtime by roughly 302 hours while reducing regular hours by a similar amount. Using the largest winter in the eight-year dataset (9,000 hours), Gleason estimated an alternative additional county cost of $3,381 when benefits and state/county splits were applied.
Committee members pressed on assumptions and missing figures. Member Billy Fried said he had been told previously that costs might range from $15,000 up to six figures; Fried said those earlier figures differed from Gleason’s presentation and asked for clearer documentation. County Board Chair Scott Holewinski said finance staff had provided information not included in Hegeman’s packet and asked that the finance director attend a future meeting to reconcile differences. Holewinski also reported speaking with other finance directors who provided contrasting perspectives.
Members questioned operational impacts: Fried and Dan Hess asked how increased overtime could affect employees’ PTO and comp-time balances; Gleason reported average PTO bank balances of 222 hours and average comp-time balances of 32.95 hours as of Jan. 30 but said payout practices would need confirmation from the finance department. Jensen and others raised public-perception considerations and urged caution. Commissioner Hegeman said he had reached out to peer counties and found many operate year-round on four tens (29 counties) or variations (four counties using modified schedules).
No policy change was made. Several members recommended finishing the current year on the existing schedule and revisiting the decision with finalized year-end finance figures; Holewinski requested the finance director attend the next meeting, if available, to present reconciled numbers for committee consideration.
Gleason’s technical projections, staff comparisons with other counties, and members’ requests for finance verification are expected to return to the committee for further study.
