County moves forward with wage study despite benefit questions

Taylor County is moving forward with plans for a wage study despite concern from at least one county board member about not including benefits in the study. Members of the county’s finance and personnel committee on Tuesday met with Patrick Glynn of Carlson Dettmann Consulting in order to clarify what counties would be included in the study and address any other questions before it begins in earnest. Glynn presented a map showing the counties that he proposed they include. This includes Ashland, Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Price, Rusk, Sawyer and Trempealeau counties which were included in previous studies done to establish the current pay scales. In addition he suggested they consider adding Wood and Adams counties to the mix since they are within a 90-mile radius of Medford considered the primary market for potential hires.

The recommendations for counties to include comes with some reservations on Glynn’s part as he notes that Dunn, Trempealeau and Jackson counties are all in the process of adopting new pay structures. He also noted that Ashland County is significantly, and knowingly, behind the market for wages and he said they are having a difficult time competing for employees with Sawyer County facing similar issues.

Committee member Ray Soper questioned if the study was only going to compare counties or if it would include the private sector as well. Glynn explained that it would also include private section employment, especially in things such as equipment operators or administrative assistants which have strong comparables. However, he said rather than direct surveys they would be taking much of the private market information off of statistical sources including the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the region. He said they would apply algorithms to the data to adjust for the labor market in Medford since the statistical information is at a broader regional level due to population size.

Committee member Scott Mildbrand, who had been opposed to doing the study in past meetings, questioned its value if they did not also include the generous benefits package offered by the county. He noted the value of the state employee pension and health insurance program offered and said there needs to be that included with the base wage comparisons.

Glynn said it is possible to do a study like that, but cautioned that it was very difficult to compare apples to apples when it came to weighing the value of benefit programs. “Pay and benefits are two parallel but equally important discussions,” Glynn said.

County human resources director Marie Koerner said she spends a lot of time during the interview process explaining the value of the state retirement and county benefits package. However, she noted that many are still focused on the pay amount, with younger people in particular not excited by the retirement plan.

Committee member Tim Hansen said it is normal for younger people to not be thinking about retirement as they work to cover their living expenses. “You can’t blame them, we have all been there,” said committee chairman Chuck Zenner.

Zenner raised the challenge facing governments in order to address rising payroll expenses versus private industry. While private employers can pass the payroll expense onto their customers, government is under tax freezes and limited in what they can do to generate additional revenue.

“The market does not care about your ability to pay,” Glynn said, noting the market rate is what it is and that while he is not insensitive to the challenges facing counties, he said it will be a matter of prioritizing in order to cover the additional expenses. This may mean cutting some services in order to focus on others.