Committee OKs shared position at courthouse

Taylor County is looking to add a floating staff position to be shared between the clerk’s office, the register of deeds office and the human resources department.

Members of the Taylor County personnel committee approved moving forward with creating the position at their May 9 meeting.

All three departments have expressed the need for additional clerical and customer service support but all need it only a fraction of the time. County Clerk Andria Farrand noted that with staff shifting from her office into payroll, it is just her and the deputy clerk. She said there are times such as during county board sessions and elections when they may need to both be out of the office.

Farrand said the clerk’s office is the entry point for many people coming into the courthouse and is where the courthouse’s general phone number goes to. “We can’t close our office,” Farrand said, of the need to have it staffed while the courthouse is open. She noted that the only way both she and her deputy could be at the personnel meeting was because another departments’ computers were down due to a cut line and they were able to fill in.

Register of Deeds Jayme Kohn noted that when her part time position in the office left for a different job, they kept the position in the department but vacant to see if they could do without it. What they are finding is that they need the additional position to cover customer requests while other staff work on things such as the abstract and title work involved with the “in rem” process used by the county to take property back for unpaid taxes. She noted that this in particular was a very bad year for properties that fell into that category and estimated they have had more than 400 hours of additional staff time into that work.

Human Resources director Nicole Hager said they could use the additional help in the areas such as dealing with insurance or to help free up staff time elsewhere in the department. It was noted that getting someone to fill a part-time position is especially challenging and that by combining it into one 35-hour a week floater position the county would have a better chance of getting it filled.

Hager guessed the position would be a Grade F on the county’s pay matrix which would be roughly around $34,000 a year depending on other factors such as experience level.

“It seems like something that is a good start,” said chairman Chuck Zenner.

In other business, committee members: Approved switching job descriptions for the county health department to match the language used at the state public health levels and ensure that Taylor County’s positions are in compliance with the state standards. “Nursing in public health is very specific,” said public health director Michelle Cahoon, noting the state requirements for educational levels. The county health department relies heavily on grant funds for programs and so must be in compliance with state regulations. She explained that the new job titles are based on the six different foundations in public health used at the state level.

Took no action on a request from the elected clerk of court to make a salary adjustment mid-term after the legal opinion came back that the salary is set for the term of office and can only be changed between elections. It was noted that in Forest County, where an increase was made, it was due to the clerk there also assuming the duties of the department head for register in probate and for court security. The issue was raised because the county constitutional officers up for election next fall will be receiving a pay increase to bring them in line with what other counties are paying for those positions.