Board funds 911 staffing upgrades and an animal services part-time position but declines on-call pay increases

Commissioners reviewed staffing and equipment requests for 911 and animal services and reached a consensus on funding personnel changes while declining a proposed on-call pay expansion. Staff presented a proposal to restructure 911 positions by adding a chief-dispatcher (salary/grade change) and a dispatch supervisor schedule change to improve shift coverage; staff estimated the net additional recurring cost to the budget if both 911 items were funded would be about $42,000—4,000, and that some overtime savings might accrue but would take time to realize. The manager estimated about $6,000 in overtime reductions annually but said the full savings would be gradual. Animal services requested two cameras and an additional part-time kennel assistant. Commissioners agreed to remove the camera purchases (estimated at about $20,000) and instead add one part-time kennel position; a staff member recommended the cameras be removed from the capital list to cover recurring personnel costs. The motion was treated as a consensus rather than a formal recorded vote. The board also discussed on-call pay that had been proposed in the personnel policy. Staff said current budgeted on-call pay was roughly $16,000 for 911 and $6,600 for animal services. Commissioners agreed to fund the staffing changes but to not add on-call pay at this time, resulting in a net estimated increase of about $30,000 for the two departments in the recommended budget. Commissioners asked staff to include the net costs and the recommended offsets in the unresolved budget items for final adoption.