Montgomery Co. needs $5M to equalize staff pay
After several years of discussion about employee salaries, Montgomery County commissioners are looking at increasing pay for some employees to address inflation and to equalize compensation across departments.
Budget Officer Amanda Carter said commissioners need to make almost $5 million in compensation adjustments to ensure the county stays competitive and can retain employees.
Carter and Human Resources Director Dodi Shaw presented an extensive budget study to the court Tuesday.
Shaw said the study included 1,056 nonexempt employees who averaged $21.93 an hour. The study also included 710 law enforcement personnel, specifically deputies, detectives and sergeants, on the same pay scale as those nonexempt employees.
“We get a lot of complaints talking about salaries, it’s not (department heads) talking about themselves, it’s them talking about their employees,” Carter said.
Topping the concerns from department heads were new employees receiving higher pay than tenured, the county trains employees and then they leave for other county positions or other counties and many of the employees work more than one job due to their low pay with Montgomery County.
Carter said the study looked at 14 peer counties including Fort Bend and Harris counties and some large cities with similar services including Conroe, Houston and Katy.
Commissioner will discuss the compensation adjustments during their budget workshops Aug. 8-11.
The court on Tuesday received its preliminary budget for 2024 of $419 million, a 6 percent increase from 2023.
Carter said while the salary adjustments would not apply to every employee, the budget includes a 2.5 percent cost of living raise across the board.
“We feel like a (cost of living adjustment) is still something that needs to be done in the county,” Carter said. “Overall, inflation is still a factor for employees.”