Commissioners note large pay gap between top sanitarian candidate and county scale

Commissioners and staff spent substantial time in the Feb. 27 special called meeting discussing the gap between the county's pay scale and what the committee's top candidate currently earns.

Commissioner Carpenter summarized the county's internal calculation, noting a grade 15, step 4 salary "would be about 81 82,000" and later confirming the figure as "80,350." He added that the candidate on the application reported currently making "111,000." Carpenter said the county scale would not reach that level "based on our scale" and observed that raising a county position to that pay band would place it among senior technical positions such as "engineer threes" or similar classifications.

Commissioner Chapman urged practical realism while pushing to try an offer at the highest feasible county step: "I'll call him with that $80,350," Chapman said, but acknowledged the candidate may not accept a substantial pay cut from his current pay in a larger jurisdiction.

Commissioners balanced pay concerns against the operational need for a licensed sanitarian on staff. They also noted that total compensation differs between county government and larger employers because of retirement and benefits but agreed the gap was large and complicated recruiting. No change to the pay scale was adopted at the meeting; the court instead gave the hiring committee authority to extend an offer under the existing schedule.