County moving forward with wage study

WALLACE –– The Shoshone Board of County of Commissioners approved a bid for a wage study on Wednesday morning.  

A wage study has been discussed for several years, but those conversations intensified over recent months as Shoshone County has worked toward navigating a potential multi-million-dollar budget shortfall. That shortfall, coupled with discussions of potential wage freezing for county employees has many residents concerned with how the county is spending its funds.  

In April, the board discussed a $26,000 bid from Merdian-based firm AmeriBen, which had been recommended by commissioners from several other counties who have performed similar studies – but they would still need to seek out other bids before they made any decisions.  

While the county did receive bids from other companies, those bids came with the caveat that the county would have to install their software onto the county’s computers to complete the work.  

Commissioner Tracy Casady, who has been discussing the study with AmeriBen, told her fellow commissioners that their $26,000 price tag could be lowered exponentially by completing some of the work internally.  

The study will consider more than just base wages, but also each position’s scope of responsibility, level of skill required, working conditions, benefits, and longevity. 

“We promised the employees, just like the audit, that this would be an outside, unbiased study,” Casady said.   

Pay scales have been a hot topic after a recent meeting concerning a potential wage freeze. The hope is that the study will help the county ensure that they are in line with other like-sized counties throughout the state in terms of pay for their employees.  

The previous board had allowed departments to create their own pay scales, including amounts and frequencies for raises – but they had to be approved by the board.  

The county roads department and the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office were two of the departments that completed this process – but with several departments unable to accomplish this, it led to further disparity in pay among the various departments. 

“It seems like the fairest way to move forward if we’re ever going to rectify the problems in the future,” Commissioner Dave Dose said.  

Depending on how much work the county can complete internally, Casady said that the amount of the study could be cut by as much as 50%. 

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman expressed concerns over the cost but also said he understood the need for such a study.  

“We’re out of balance in our departments,” Zimmerman said. “We need to see where we should be at and what’s fair.”