Low pay is a problem to be addressed in all Taos County, Town of Taos positions

In your Jan. 5 article, “Three new commissioners, new sheriff take office,” the county manager states that the county has been unable to hire a finance manager because of the low salary being offered for that position. The low salary issue not only applies to the finance manager position but is a problem for all positions in Taos County and Town of Taos government offices. I will address county positions in this My Turn.

The county is having difficulties in attracting, hiring and keeping employees across several of its departments. The Taos County Assessor’s office cannot fill geographic information mappers/programmers and appraisers. The Public Works Department and the Solid Waste Department experience problems in filling positions that require commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). The planning department has problems filling positions as well, including the planning director position.

All these problems exist in Taos County government while the cost to live in Taos approaches or is at the same level as the cost to live in Santa Fe. Our workforce continues to diminish as individuals of working age leave Taos County to find work that allows them to survive.

As the Taos County Commission plans for the next fiscal year’s budget, I suggest that they set a multiyear goal, documented through an ordinance, that will require the county to increase its salaries to levels that will enable the county to attract, hire and keep employees across all positions and not only at the county manager and department head level. Other entities have had to do this in the past. The City of Santa Fe, for example, raised minimum salaries over a period of time. The State of New Mexico hired the Hay Group to help establish a new compensation system that affected all positions in state government.

Setting an ambitious goal to increase salaries will require that the county contract with a professional organization that will guide the county in the development and maintenence of a new compensation system. And, more importantly, it will require that we the citizens of Taos County support the county in this endeavor. After all, the revenue that will be needed to accomplish such a goal may mean that we will have to pay higher property taxes.

Andrew Chavez is a lifelong resident of Llano Quemado. He is the president of the board of the Llano Quemado Mutual Domestic Water Association and treasurer of the El Valle de Los Ranchos Water & Sanitation District Board. Chavez is also a former Taos County commissioner.