HR director flags staffing pressure and rising pharmacy costs as county grows

Erath County's human-resources office told commissioners that headcount and benefits costs are growing and asked for staffing help to handle onboarding, payroll and day-to-day public inquiries.

Becky (introduced by the presiding official), who oversees HR functions for the county, said department active records total about 314 individual employees (full-, part-time and elected positions combined), and that the county currently has roughly 272 individuals active on payroll after certain exclusions. She asked the court to consider a part-time front-desk assistant or clerk to relieve heavy walk-in traffic and onboarding tasks.

Becky also reviewed recent pharmacy and benefits figures provided by the county's health plan administrator. She said the county's largest pharmacy spending categories in the past 12 months included antidiabetics (~$193,200), autoimmune modulators (~$150,400) and cardiovascular agents (~$99,100). She urged commissioners to support employee wellness initiatives and training that could reduce preventable costs.

Commissioners asked whether a part-time hire would be sufficient; Becky said she would prefer to start with a part-timer and escalate to a full-time position if the county reaches population/workload thresholds.

No formal budget decision was made; the court instructed budget staff to fold HR's requests into the consolidated budget packet for prioritization.