Douglas County preserves market pay pool but leaves merit increases under review

Commissioners spent substantial time debating how the county should allocate salary increases between the market pool and merit pool.

Some commissioners proposed pausing or eliminating the market pool this year to conserve budget capacity, citing last year’s larger increases and concerns for taxpayers on fixed incomes. Commissioner (S5) argued that last year’s raises exceeded economic-forecast recommendations and suggested shifting some market dollars into merit or pausing increases.

Others pushed back. Commissioner (S6), Chair (S1) and several colleagues said preserving the market adjustment was important to retain county staff and remain competitive with nearby employers. “Staff turnover is incredibly expensive,” Commissioner (S6) said in defense of maintaining the market pool. Several commissioners expressed openness to modest increases in the merit pool if staff can find offsetting revenue levers such as transfers or behavioral-health fund adjustments.

Staff noted the market adjustments vary by job family (some job families received smaller percentage moves, others higher) and that elected officials’ budgets have limited flexibility. The commission agreed to leave the market pool at the budgeted level (roughly the 3.4% pool shown in staff materials) while keeping the merit-pool conversation open depending on final mill-levy and transfer decisions.

Next steps: staff will return with recalculated mill-levy materials reflecting the commission’s provisional moves and explore whether merit-pool increases can be funded without raising the mill levy.