The Josephine County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 4 to set a 3.7% cost-of-living adjustment for the county’s nonunion employees, in a 2–0 roll call with Commissioner Barnett excused.

The board’s motion, made by Commissioner Smith and seconded by the meeting chair, followed a presentation from human resources on the county’s personnel policy (Article 7, Section 2(c)), which ties annual nonunion adjustments to the U.S. CPI-W West with a 0–4% range unless the board directs otherwise. The HR presentation noted a 4% COLA had been budgeted and that the county currently employs 93 nonunion staff.

Commissioner Smith justified the motion by pointing to recent union settlements, saying, “We gave that to a group of union employees. I think the nonunion employees deserve the same rate.” The board cast the vote immediately after public comment and procedural discussion; the clerk recorded a 2–0 tally (Commissioner Smith — Yes; Commissioner Black — Yes; Commissioner Barnett — Excused).

The HR director told the board the payroll change would take effect Jan. 1 unless the board took a different action, and said the department had used recent union CPI adjustments as comparators when preparing the budget. Commissioners briefly discussed CPI reporting delays caused by a federal data interruption but did not delay the vote.

The board did not attach additional conditions to the increase; implementation and payroll timing will be handled by county HR consistent with existing policy.

The board’s next weekly business session is scheduled as posted on the county website.