Decatur County council backs plan to move employees to WIS base and apply one-year stipend

Decatur County council members concluded a multi-hour review of a recent WIS pay study and directed staff to calculate the fiscal impact of moving county employees to the WIS base pay for 2027, while providing a one-time stipend for employees currently paid above the new base.

Committee member (S2) who led the proposal said the approach would avoid reducing anyone's current pay while beginning a multi-year effort to align pay ranges. "We're not trying to we want everybody in this room to get paid for what they deserve," S2 said during the discussion. Staff (S6) stressed the figures in the draft spreadsheet need verification for hours and classifications before a definitive dollar amount can be provided.

Why it matters: moving to a WIS-based floor would re-center county pay on the externally derived base rates the study recommends, but it also raises immediate budgeting questions about stipends for employees already above that base and the timing of the 27th pay.

What they asked staff to do: the council asked county staff to update the worksheet (correct highway hours and other classification mismatches), run scenarios (flat-dollar and percentage options), and return with a precise cost estimate by email before final budget adoption. The group concluded the discussion with a voice vote to proceed to detailed calculations and reporting back to the board.

Next steps: staff will return with proposed columns showing possible scenarios (examples: 2%, 3%, 4% and base-plus-stipend options) and a confirmed dollar estimate for the one-year stipend and base adjustments.