County commissioners approve cost of living increases

Lincoln County Commissioners have approved a 1.8 percent cost of living increase for county employee salaries for the coming year.

While considering the pay bump, commissioners mulled over the challenges of keeping wages ahead of inflation without overburdening tax payers. The county’s top elected officials also discussed the challenges of making local budget decisions before knowing how much the county would receive from the state.

“This is something that is very challenging to do because we don’t have our revenues,” said Commissioner Jerry Bennett (D-2) before voting on the increase during a June 9 meeting. “But we do greatly appreciate our employees and the work they do.”

The 1.8 pay bump will translate to an additional $86,832 in yearly wages for the county, according to Patrick McFadden, county administrator. The current base salary of a county employee is $44,678.

McFadden pitched the cost of living increase as critical to ensuring employee retention. While McFadden acknowledged that business owners might not be able to boost wages like the county, he said that private sector employers, unlike local governments, based their wages on a finite return on investments.

“Our return on investment is the quality of service we provide,” McFadden said. “And if we don’t keep up, slowly the quality of our employees will drop. And when the quality of our employees and the longevity of our employees and the resident knowledge drops and then the public will be upset.”

Bennett caveated this point saying that county officials also had to be cognizant not to overburden taxpayers who pay for the public services.

“It’s just a balancing act,” he said.

Compared with years past, the 1.8 increase represents a more gentle shift in employee salaries. Throughout most of the last decade, the county lagged behind inflation rates. During five of the years when county revenues were low, employees did not see any shifts in their income. Officials made up for the deficit in 2019 and 2020 with bumps of 7.5 percent and 8.0 respectively.

When presenting the 1.8 increase to the county compensation board earlier this month, McFadden said the proposed hike would put county wages inline with 10-year inflation average of 2.3 percent.

In years to come, McFadden hoped the county could continue making gentle shifts in employee salaries. Small adjustments rather than the large swings would help give employees a greater sense of financial stability.

Officials expect to see a couple changes to the county’s budget that could help offset the cost of the wage increases. A 20.4 percent decrease in worker’s compensation will result in a $36,915 savings for county coffers. Tax revenues are expected to increase between 12 and 15 percent due to spikes in real estate and housing prices.