By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The Ellis County Commission elected to table until July discussions over a potential raise for employees at Monday’s commission meeting.
The commission had scheduled and budgeted to complete the Evergreen study and a 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment for employees in 2020.
Interim County Administrator Darin Myers told the commission Monday they had originally budgeted approximately $140,000 for pay increases but, after some changes, the cost estimate was trimmed to $60,514.
The wage and benefit study, put together by Evergreen Solutions, was commissioned in 2014 but the commission did not begin to implement it until 2016. The goal of the study was to ensure county employees were being compensated at the same level of similarly sized entities. The study showed that Ellis County was lacking in several areas.
The commission had gradually increased most of the employees' positions on the study. This move in 2020 would take care of the rest of the employees, according to Myers.
All three commissioners agreed that it would be good to get the Evergreen Study completed.
“I believe the Evergreen Study, at the time we done that, cost about $40,000,” Commissioner Butch Schlyer said. “I don’t (think) I’d ever be interested in doing another one.”
Commissioner Dean Haselhorst called it a “nightmare” and said he didn’t think it was applicable to employees in Ellis County.
Commissioner Dustin Roths said he supports the step increases but with the current economic struggles the county is seeing he doesn’t support the COLA pay increase.
“We know that we are going to take a huge hit on our budget. We have no idea if our sales tax numbers are going to be coming in the way that we expected that they would,” Roths said.
“If feel like in the state of this county and the state of what looks like we’ll be at an almost 10 percent unemployment rate, I would like to get that Evergreen Study behind us so we can work better at a more aggressive way of rewarding great staff,” Roths said.
Haselhorst said he agreed with Roths, “I’ve never like these studies, I think employees should be rewarded off how they work.”
Schlyer said a merit-based pay will be difficult to set benchmarks for all of the different employees within the county.
Haselhorst said he believes the department heads will be able to help evaluate employees.
Roths said because of the current economic climate there are people looking for work and he believes if there was an open position within the county there would be plenty of applicants.
“We have a great staff, we have great employees. The idea of a COLA pay when we are about to see 10 percent unemployment and record low commodity prices doesn’t seem like it would be in line with what our voters would want from us,” Roths said.
Schlyer disagreed.
“We did commit to a COLA pay,” Schyler said. “Our employees had nothing to do with the state of this economy. Politicians have forced this on everyone.
“During this whole virus pandemic, we’ve had a majority of our employees out in the public each and every day, doing their jobs.”
Schlyer added that the employees have trusted the commission to fulfill the COLA pay and said he believes it’s the commission's obligation.
“I think its only fair we follow through with this just as we have told the employees we would do,” Schlyer said.
Myers said “by not giving a COLA, you’re not accounting for the employees' salary adjustments for what the markets doing.”
He said some employees were given the COLA increase to keep the salary scale up to date.
Schyler added that the 1.6 percent was based on last year’s economy and that the current economic downturn will likely affect next year’s COLA numbers.
“If someone goes out here to Public Works and wants to be a truck driver or a mechanic, and we know we’re going to present them an offer that’s below par, but either ‘accept it or hit the road,’ that’s just taking advantage of people,” Schlyer said. “It’s using leverage against them instead of being what’s fair.”
Roths said he doesn’t believe they should offer any paise raise in the current economy.
“Without the sales tax passing, we would likely be looking at furloughs in Ellis County,” Roths said. “The taxpayers came to us and helped us keep a managed balanced budget, (and) I don’t think they would be happy with us doing a pay raise shortly after that.”
The commission, at the request of Commissioner Haselhorst, tabled the discussion until July 13.