Countyadmin fee formula draws concern; stewardship panel to form subcommittee

The Sand Flats Recreation Area Stewardship Committee spent a large portion of its Dec. 11 meeting debating a newly calculated county administrative fee that county staff said totals $8.18 per full-time equivalent employee when attorney, HR, IT, clerk and audit costs are included. A committee member described the $8.18 figure as “shocking.”

Committee members said the countymethodology counts all employees, including non-general-fund positions, and that hiring freezes and frozen positions make year-to-year comparisons volatile. The committee agreed to set up a subcommittee to review the methodology, consider exclusions (for example, attorney fees), and evaluate a phased approach (participants discussed moving from about $4 to $4.50 and then $5 over several years).

"$8.18 is what they decided that when they factored the attorney, HR, IT, maintenance clerk, admin, treasurer, and audit, into it," one member said during the discussion. Committee members said they want a clearer, auditable basis for any charge and that the subcommittee should seek a predictable schedule so affected departments can plan ahead.

The committee also noted that the countybudget workshops will finalize a tentative figure on Tuesday and that, while the countymethod provides an auditable number, it may not reflect operational reality for small, non-general-fund departments. The subcommittee will report back with recommendations before the next budget cycle.

The meeting did not produce a final vote on adopting the fee at the department level; it established only the committee-level subcommittee to study options and implementation timing.