The Habersham County Commission approved the implementation of the Evergreen Solutions salary study at a special called meeting last December. The results of that study are significant.
Now Habersham analyzed the impact that study had on the county’s payroll. Our analysis covers employees’ salaries. It does not reflect the salaries of the County Manager or any of the county’s constitutional/elected officials.
The County Manager’s salary is set by an employment contract agreed upon by the county manager and the county commissioners. Elected officials have their salary primarily set by the state legislature.
Our analysis used the data received from employees’ individual payroll from December 7, 2022, just prior to the implementation of the Evergreen Study, and employees’ payroll from January 19, 2023, after the implementation of the Evergreen Study. All documents were provided by the Habersham County government.
Shortfall
The pay increases for employees were broken up into two parts. The first part was a 3% pay increase given on their anniversary date. The amount set aside in this year’s budget was $395,912
The second part was the Evergreen study that implemented pay increases by classification in comparison with other counties to bring those classifications in line with the going rate for employee salaries. The amount set aside for this increase was $412,436 for this year and only covers six months of the year. The annual cost, according to the county, is $800,000.
Those employees that received a 3% merit increase between July 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022, are not included as an increase. Their salary was increased prior to the pay study being implemented.
The annual cost going forward will be $1,428,229 for a full year with the implementation of the Evergreen study and the 3% anniversary date merit increase. Resulting in a shortfall of $232,317. This amount will have to be considered in the coming budget. Most of the shortfall will be paid for by respective departments in the Enterprise and Special Revenue Funds and not the General Fund in FY 2024, according to Habersham County Finance Director Tim Sims.
Pay Tables
The county operated six pay tables prior to January 2023. Evergreen recommended that the pay tables be reduced to four.
Below is the Pay Table Comparison Summary that demonstrates the four new pay tables, their annual individual costs for increases after the Evergreen study implementation, the annual average percent of salary increase for employees in that pay table, and the number of county employees in that pay table.
How the dollars landed by table and classification
The next four tables are the pay tables based on classification or job position hierarchy. Each classification is assigned a grade based on job complexity and job responsibility. The tables are General, Fire/EMS, E-911, and Sheriff’s Office.
Each table includes six columns.
Average Annual Increase is the average increase for employees at that grade and job classification.
Minimum Annual Increase is the minimum increase that an employee received at that grade and job classification.
Maximum Annual Increase is the maximum increase that an employee received at that grade and job classification.
Number Of Employees is the number of employees in that grade and classification
Average Percentage Increase is the average percent increase for that grade and classification based on the number of employees.
Average Annual Total is the total cost for the year based on the average annual increase and number of employees for that grade and classification.
Below is the General Pay Table. The table covers a significant number of part-time positions. Those are in the grade of HC00 and make up just under 25% of the increase for this table. This table combined numerous other departments, including those that are in the Enterprise and Special Revenue departments, as demonstrated in the classification titles for each grade. The overall annual total for this increase is $682,856.54.
Below is the Fire/EMS Pay Table. The overall annual total for this increase is $593,802.80.
The Sheriff’s Office staff did not receive much more than 3% raises in some cases. Deputies and jailers received a $2.30 pay increase in May 2021, resulting in deputy and jailer pay falling within the market range that the Evergreen pay study recommended. The 2021 pay increase for the Sheriff’s Office cost the county $475,651 annually.
E-911 employees, over the last few years, had received pay increases due to recruiting and retention issues. Those raises had the same effect as they did for the Sheriff’s Office. Many of the employees fell within the market range recommended by the Evergreen pay study resulting in less money distributed to E-911 employees for pay increases.
At the department level budget presentations at the end of March. An additional 47 positions were requested by department heads throughout the county. That increase in salaries with benefits would equate to an additional $2,262,000 if all positions are approved.
For budget year 2024, the county will have to take into consideration the Evergreen pay study impact and the annual 3% merit raise. Those salaries will not go backward.
SEE ALSO
Department heads ask for 47 new positions as county budget talks gear up
This article has been edited for clarity. None of the numbers have changed.
