HR director reports 22.8% turnover after including seasonal hires; county to refine reporting

At a Jan. 27 Dubuque County budget work session, Human Resources Director Chelsea Green told supervisors the HR department supports 467 employees (439 county employees) and reported a 22.8% turnover rate for calendar year 2025. Green said that figure includes seasonal hires and Sunnycrest employees, which inflates the overall rate compared with prior years when seasonals were not tracked the same way.

“This is on the calendar year of 2025, and this includes our seasonal staff, which we didn’t have our seasonal staff calculated in our turnover rate last year,” Green said, explaining that a higher number of retirements and the inclusion of seasonal positions increased the rate. Supervisor Anne asked for clarity on how quarterly percentages relate to the annual figure; Green answered that quarters are broken down individually and the full 22.8% reflects the calendar year total.

Green also described progress on systems modernization — including NeoGov implementation and standardized training tracks — and said HR has prioritized stabilizing benefits administration before adding additional modules. She told the board HR is requesting increased recruitment funding tied to a one‑year contract for the county engineer, explaining the department has advertised the position and may need added advertising funds when the contract ends.

Board members asked Green to separate seasonals and Sunnycrest in next year’s reporting; Green agreed to provide separate counts and to present updated turnover calculations on return. The board did not vote on HR budget items at this session; staff will return with refined figures and line‑item details.