A long-awaited Jefferson County government-compensation study shows that 324 workers and 558 sworn sheriff employees are underpaid, while 66 workers are overpaid compared with employees in similar counties and cities in the West.
Yet the study - which cost the county $180,000 - does not take into account bonuses awarded by the county and how they affect how much money employees are taking home, especially for those already paid above market. The Sheriff's Office does not award employee bonuses, but those given to workers in other departments, many of them top managers, have risen by more than 700 percent in four years.
The price tag to bring all the underpaid workers up to market rate is $1.1 million. The study did not tally how much could be recovered if the county sought to cut the pay of employees whose compensation is above market rate.
The county's nine elected officials have total discretion in awarding bonuses as long as they stay within the money allotted to their departments for that purpose. There are no written policies or objective guidelines.
County administrator Jim Moore said the contract with the Waters Consulting Group Inc. was intended to examine base salaries and pay structures, not bonuses.
"Once we install a new compensation system, we will look at guidelines for bonuses," he said.
The county has decided not to put a freeze on bonuses this year.
Commissioner Kathy Hartman, who has consistently opposed awarding county employees bonuses, said many government employees have expressed their frustration with being underpaid. With a tight budget, she said, she is worried that those who are significantly underpaid won't get what they deserve.
"We should have an objective basis for what a job is worth, which hopefully we now have, and pay it," Hartman said. "I'm very concerned about those who are overpaid and getting bonuses."
County Commissioners, aside from Hartman, have always been all too happy to award hefty bonuses to hand-picked staff, even in tough economic times. Perhaps this survey will finally put an end to that nonsense.
