Madison County employees miffed over proposed raises

By Nick Gevock - 07/17/2008

VIRGINIA CITY — Madison County employees lashed out at county commissioners this week at a proposal to give some employees half as big of a raise as elected officials.

County commissioners recently voted to approve 14 percent raises for elected officials while giving most county employees a 7.6 percent raise. Commissioners said a committee formed to study salaries made the recommendations.

But the proposal included changing the compensation for department deputies from the current 90 percent of the elected official to 85 percent and not to compensate for longevity, or how long a worker has been with the county.

That drew the ire of County Clerk and Recorder Bundy Bailey, who said deputies have to be able to step up and do the job of their boss at any time.

She blasted commissioners for commenting that the longevity decision was meant to make sure stagnant workers weren’t rewarded.

“I took particular offense to that comment,” she said during a staff meeting, where the issue was hotly debated. “There are no stagnant workers anywhere in this building.” But Commissioner Jim Hart, while agreeing that county workers put in a good day’s work, said the county was only trying to catch up in salaries. He said employees were getting an excellent raise to try to help them cope with the rising cost of living.

“Most employees are getting the largest raise that I have seen in my life,” Hart said.

The issue has angered employees. They said it wasn’t the amount of the raise that they received, but rather the discrepancies in raises that bothered them.

For example, employees said the proposal to give the county sanitarian and GIS/information technology director the same 14 percent raise that elected officials received, but not other department heads, was unfair.

“You can’t just pick and choose who’s going to get this 14 percent and expect the rest of us to say ‘OK, that’s fine,’” said Jill Steeley, county public health director. “There’s no consistency there and you had to expect to open a can of worms.” But those positions weren’t arbitrarily chosen for a larger raise, Commissioner Dave Schulz said. Those jobs require a college degree and experience, and the decision was meant to keep those salaries competitive.

He added the raises were proposed by the salary and compensation committee, a group made up of county residents John Armstrong, Dick Barr, Billy Radcliffe, Julie Ward, commissioners, County Attorney Chris Christensen, Clerk and Recorder Peggy Kaatz, Treasurer Shelly Burke and Justice Maryann O’Malley.

The county chose that committee instead of hiring an outside consultant to study the issue, Schulz said. He said although the county wanted to give good raises, to give everybody a 14 percent raise would have cost the county more than $330,000 from its general fund, which would have strained the budget.

Hart said while the raises weren’t perfect, they were a good start in making county positions competitive. And Commissioner Marilyn Ross said the goal was to help county employees deal with inflation.

“We need to get as much money into the pockets of our employees as we can,” she said.

But Kathleen Mumme, who works in the clerk and recorder’s office, said the staff wasn’t miffed at their raise. It was the proposal not to reward for the years spent with the county that bothered her.

“I don’t think anybody in here is upset that they’re getting a 7.6 percent raise,” she said.

Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com.

County proposes 2009 salaries Madison County elected officials proposed annual salaries for 2009: