Lakeport >> During the citizens input portion at the Oct. 6 meeting, some Lake County residents voiced concern and outrage over a 10 percent pay raise the Board of Supervisors (BOS) granted themselves and other county employees at their Sept. 22 meeting.
According to District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith, the combined resolutions have been “a long time coming,” and stated that it had been “something like seven or eight years” since the last pay increase was approved for employees.
The items in question appeared on the BOS agenda as items 9.7 through 9.11. Several were written as “Memorandums of Understanding” between the county and the Lake County Employees’ Association (LCEA) and the Lake County Deputy District Attorney’s Association, respectively. The other items dealt with non-managerial employees in the County Administrative Office, County Counsel, county personnel, deputy county counsel and county general staff.
Cumulatively employees of the county, including the BOS, will experience the following changes: a 3 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) to salaries, the elimination of a one-time stipend and 8 hours of personal leave in light of the COLA, and the addition of Dec. 26 to the list of county-observed holidays. A separate 7 percent salary increase — 9 percent for employees classified as safety personnel — is also included, but this increase is mitigated by the county no longer paying an equivalent amount on the employee’s behalf to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), called a “PERS swap” in county documents.
Some divisions will also shift to a 12-step employment longevity raise system in place of the five-step system currently in place to help avoid salary compaction. Educational and certification incentives for the Sheriff and Undersheriff have also been added. Specific to the management group, a three-step longevity rate of 2.5% based off cumulative years of service has been added, maxing out at 15 years.
Management is also offered an option to “cash out”, according to County Administrator Matt Perry, any unused sick leave or vacation time annually at a rate of 4.8 percent of their annual salary.
The root of all of this, according to District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele, is an effort by the county to aid recruitment and retention efforts for key county positions. In an interview with the Record-Bee at the Oct. 6 BOS meeting, Steele indicated that the county has had an issue with losing employees to other counties due to better pay and benefits. By offering the 3 percent COLA in addition to the 7 percent PERS swap, it makes acquiring a position within the county a more enticing option for eligible job seekers.
As this pertains to the BOS, who are classified as management through their operating ordinance, the board members each receive the combined 10 percent increase, but are likewise subject the PERS swap. Also, due to limitations placed on the board through that ordinance, they are not eligible to seek longevity increases or to cash out vacation and sick leave. District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock and Perry both spoke out before the management resolution was passed in order to clarify this detail to the public.
The term for these new resolutions begins retroactively at July 1, and remains in effect until Dec. 21, 2016.
