Broadwater County committee weighs 4.5% COLA versus $1.50 hourly boost; schedules follow-up

A Broadwater County compensation committee on an informal working session discussed a range of cost-of-living adjustment options for elected officials and county staff and agreed to reconvene after finance prepares spreadsheets to model the budget impact.

The commission chair opened the meeting saying the group’s goal was to “come out with a recommendation on a salary schedule for elected officials,” and the committee heard multiple analyses of inflation and pay benchmarks. Phil Girafi, a presenter to the committee, said recent market signals and public- and private-sector comparisons point to about a 2.8% COLA. “In the public sector and in the private sector, 2.8% COLA seems to be the target that people are expecting,” Girafi said.

Committee members pressed beyond a baseline COLA, citing insurance-premium increases and equity concerns for lower-paid staff. Lindsey, a committee member, presented the basic elected-official pay as roughly $71,018 and showed a 2% COLA would raise that to about $72,438, or roughly $1,400 annually. The chair said she would prefer a minimum 3% increase, citing local living-cost calculations for Broadwater County.

Jeff, who ran multiple-period averages of CPI and GDP measures, described a formula he used (he called it “2.8 plus half of the 3”) that produced a 4.3% starting recommendation. “That would be my starting recommendation,” Jeff said, describing his averaging approach and why he thought a number above the CPI baseline could be justified.

Members discussed alternatives: a flat-dollar increase (often cited in the meeting as $1.50 per hour) that benefits lower-paid staff more than a flat percentage, a hybrid “whichever is greater” rule (the dollar amount or a percentage, used in some state implementations), and whether covering forthcoming insurance-premium increases (discussed in-session as about $155 per employee) should factor into the recommended COLA. Finance staff said they can calculate both percentage and dollar scenarios across employee classes and show how a county decision would affect take-home pay and departmental personnel budgets.

No formal motion or vote was taken. The committee agreed to request finance prepare a spreadsheet that will allow members to plug in either a percentage or a dollar amount (or an either/or rule) and to meet again for a short session to finalize a recommendation. Members set a follow-up meeting for Wednesday the 20th at 1 p.m., with remote participation offered. The chair and committee said the recommendation will then be forwarded to the full commission as part of the budget process.

Next steps: finance staff will produce the model spreadsheets for the committee; the group will reconvene to select a recommended COLA or dollar amount to present to the commission. If the committee decides on a recommendation at the follow-up meeting, the finance office will quantify the total personnel cost and the committee will forward that recommendation into the county’s budget process.