Cole County commissioners spent much of a Dec. 11 meeting reviewing department salary requests, provisional pay sheets and the countywide pay grid, agreeing to adopt a new grid for the first January pay period while keeping step increases on the July cycle.

The discussion began when Speaker 2 directed the group to page 100 of the draft budget and identified a $12,000 line listed as real‑estate maintenance and consulting for the assessor's office. "Tim has since decided that will not be used going forward, so we can zero that line out," Speaker 2 said. Commissioners discussed rolling that $12,000 into in‑house work and noted the assessor has been filling some roles at lower pay rather than contracting for field work.

Several commissioners emphasized caution on newly submitted pay sheets until the county's salary study is complete. "My stance was waiting till we get the salary study back to approve adjustments," Speaker 3 said. Speaker 2 outlined the current practice: if commissioners approve and sign pay sheets, payroll staff will reflect those increases in the budget and true them up during the next budget cycle.

There was detail on totals and reserves. Speaker 2 said the assessor's department requested $676,600 in salaries and carried a $115,000 salary reserve for positions the prior assessor could not fill; earlier budgets had shown higher lines (an amended figure of about $865,000 was cited in discussion). Commissioners recalculated totals and noted proposed changes remained within the previously discussed budget envelope.

On the countywide pay grid, Speaker 9 recommended adopting the new grid to align employees on the same pay cycle: "I am perfectly fine with taking this the step on January 1 and hitting on a cycle," Speaker 9 said, arguing it avoids tracking problems that could persist for years. Other commissioners warned that moving step timing could unintentionally penalize some senior employees; the group agreed to adopt the grid for the Jan. 4 pay period and to continue step increases in July to reduce administrative complexity.

Next steps: staff will update payroll and the budget system with approved numbers, prepare a summary of changes and present final documents for review at the Jan. 8 commission meeting. Commissioners directed that any large deviations or a 2rock‑star2 candidate requiring more pay would be brought back to the board for discussion before finalizing.