Budget Committee sets aside money for salary study
Published 9:08 am Thursday, December 12, 2019
- Star Photo/Amber Wadovick The Budget Committee voted in favor of setting aisde $44,500 towards the planned salary study in Carter County. The lowest offer they received was around $26,000, but Brad Johnson said they wanted to aside money for the second cheapest option just in case.
In addition to the several financial requests from various committees, members of the Budget Committee also spoke about plans to set aside funds for a wage compensation study in Carter County, per the request of the Financial Management committee.
Brad Johnson said the plan for a study itself passed on the floor of the full commission in October, and last week the committee voted to request Budget set aside $44,500 towards hiring a firm.
“We are using the same process we used on the insurance broker process,” Johnson said.
Last week, Financial Management chose two companies to pursue, Evergreen and Condrey, including inviting both of them to speak in January’s committee meeting.
Charles Von Cannon asked if the committee knew the turnover rates in the Sheriff’s Department, Education Department and elsewhere before requesting the study, saying any such study should start there.
“The problem is we have had a high turnover rate,” Johnson said. “We have never had a compensation study done in this county. Never. […] We do not know what the status is in our county.”
The cheapest company to respond to the RFP came in at about $26,000 while the second came in at the $44,500 Johnson requested, promoting Kelly Collins to ask why the prices were so different. Johnson said he was not sure, considering each company was offering similar levels of service.
“It could be the situation of one is a small business, it is what they do,” Aaron Frazier said. “One is a bigger business and has more overhead.”
Johnson said he wanted to keep the RFP as local as possible, but this time around it was difficult.
“The only one in the state of Tennessee was from the Bristol area, and they have had no experience in county government,” Johnson said.
A large part of this study is the attempt to get the results in before the upcoming budget season ends in May.
“If we see it is going to not do that, we are going to delay it until after the budget process,” Johnson said.
The motion to set aside $44,500 for the compensation study, whoever they select, passed unanimously during the meeting. it will now go before the full commission Monday, December 16.
