BY STEFANIE JACKSON BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
Northampton supervisors are considering approving raises for county employees but are waiting for staff to complete further research before voting on the matter.
The goal is to provide “competitive salaries to attract and retain” employees in “every position … county attorney … custodial services, people cutting the grass, people who process the permits,” said Finance Director John Chandler on Sept. 24.
Northampton’s latest salary study was completed in 2019 at a cost of about $30,000.
Accomack County recently had a salary study done, but it was not yet publicly available during Northampton County’s latest budget season.
When the Accomack study was published, “it just started the whole conversation” about salary increases in Northampton, Chandler said.
Accomack County employees received salary increases of approximately 10%, he said.
Since Northampton’s last salary study was just five years ago, instead of requesting a new study, the finance director used the Accomack study to determine how the salaries of Northampton’s county employees compare.
Chandler said “the very first thing that jumped out” was that Accomack County employees are paid a minimum of $15 per hour.
Considering the effects of inflation and that major employers such as Perdue Farms are offering starting pay of $16 per hour, “$15 an hour is certainly a good place to start,” he said.
Around 35 of Northampton’s 235 county employees earn less than $15 an hour.
Of those 235 employees, about 80 work part time and 155 work full time, Chandler said.
The lowest wage Northampton County currently pays is $13.98 per hour.
Chandler recommended increasing the pay of every county employee by $1 per hour so that the lowest paid employees would earn at least $15 per hour.
He explained that giving a $1-per-hour increase across the board will help to avoid salary compression — a phenomenon in which the pay of newer, less-experienced employees nears or exceeds the pay of employees with greater experience or skills.
Chandler said that giving all employees the same hourly increase benefits lower-wage workers more because that increase is a greater percentage of their total pay.
For example, giving an extra $2,000 a year to someone with an annual salary of $40,000 is a 5% increase, but giving $2,000 more to someone earning $60,000 annually is an increase of a little more than 3%.
The proposal includes moving up certain positions one pay grade, including Northampton County sheriff’s communications officers, EMS advanced providers — who are now certified to perform additional services, and the building inspector position that has been “advertised for years and years and years,” Chandler said.
The change in pay grades would result in raises between roughly $2,000 and $4,000 for each of those positions, depending on experience.
The proposal includes moving Chandler’s position of finance director up to the same pay grade as the deputy county administrator, which would result in a raise between approximately $7,000 and $11,000, depending on experience.
Also proposed are additional pay grades for certain positions such as office coordinator.
An office coordinator would be paid as an office coordinator I or office coordinator II, depending on the employee’s skill set.
The change “rewards the people who have a lot of talent,” Chandler said.
Other affected positions would include deputy registrar, building and zoning technician, and permit technician.
The cost to implement the salary adjustments would be approximately $568,000 annually.
If the raises were given starting in November, they would cost an additional $375,000 in the current fiscal year.
Chandler suggested funding the raises with income that exceeded what was budgeted in fiscal year 2024.
For example, Northampton earned $561,000 more interest income in FY 2024 than anticipated.
Other excess income in FY 2024 included $215,000 in ambulance fees, $113,000 in fines, $110,000 in waste collections, and $50,000 in courthouse security fees.
The salary issue was placed on the agenda for the Oct. 8 Northampton supervisors meeting but was removed before the meeting began.
