Commission names county IT director and approves phased pay increase to reach Montana median

Fallon County commissioners voted Tuesday to revise the county’s IT job description, creating the title “IT director,” and approved a phased pay adjustment to bring the county’s IT pay toward statewide market rates.

The board unanimously approved a reworked job description that adds system administration responsibilities — including management of phones, camera systems, conference and courtroom AV, and administration of county social media — and formally changes the position title to IT director.

Following that action, commissioners approved a pay adjustment plan. The county’s IT employee, who has performed both desktop support and higher-level systems administration duties, will move immediately to the job-step the board approved as a mid-range rate. The board also directed automatic step increases tied to the employee’s anniversary dates so the position reaches the market-adjusted target within a year. The plan was validated using Montana wage data and comparison categories for technical and systems administrator roles.

Commission discussion cited the employee’s expanded responsibilities and the county’s need to retain technical staff. The commission also recorded that cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and longevity pay will remain governed by county policy and will be added to base-step amounts where applicable.

Ending: The county will implement the new title immediately and apply the approved step change at the next pay period; COLA and longevity will be applied per county policy and the job description change will be published with personnel.