McCone County commissioners debate dispatch shift differential; no decision made

McCone County commissioners spent a substantial portion of their July 6 meeting discussing whether to add a shift‑differential for dispatch staff and how such a change would affect other county departments.

Commissioners described a proposal for targeted pay increases for dispatch and noted the county payroll software may limit how differentials can be defined by shift blocks. "If we're gonna get dispatch shift differential, what about law enforcement?" one commissioner asked, raising fairness concerns about awarding extra pay to a single department. Members discussed possible shift windows (for example 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and the administrative difficulty of calculating pay for employees whose schedules cross multiple shorter blocks.

Why it matters: dispatchers typically work odd hours and the county’s choices about shift differentials could affect recruitment, retention and morale across several departments. Commissioners repeatedly emphasized the need to consider budget impact and equity if a differential is applied to one department but not others.

Details from the discussion: commissioners asked staff to check whether the county’s payroll system can compute differentials based on partial shifts and whether the county budget could absorb any recurring increase. Several examples were raised about how library weekend hours or road crew schedules might create one‑hour differential windows under certain definitions, and members noted the political and morale consequences if some employees receive different treatment.

Next steps: no motion or vote was recorded on shift differentials. Commissioners asked that staff (including the county clerk, payroll and department heads) review technical feasibility and the budget impact and return with a recommendation when all commissioners — specifically Ty — are present.

The meeting moved on after the discussion without adoption of a pay change.