Employees of Soil and Water District to see wage increase

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While Pine County is in the early stages of 2010 budget talks, at least four employees of the county's Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will see a wage increase beginning next month. At its June 23 meeting in Hinckley, supervisors of the SWCD approved for a 2-3 percent pay raise for the three full-time and one part-time employees, effective July 1. “I think they deserve it,” said Doug Odegard, District 1 in Pine City. “It falls in line with the cost of living increase.”

The wage increase came on recommendation from personnel committee members Odegard and Kelly Osterdyk, District 2 in Pine City, who voted in favor of the motion from Paul Olesen, District 5 in Askov. The roll call approval met with two nay votes from supervisors Skip Thomson, District 3 in Sandstone, and J.J. Waldhalm, District 4 in Sturgeon Lake.

“We’re not opposed to the raises, but it’s the timing,” said Thomson. “It’s fiscally irresponsible to give a raise before you know what the budget for 2010 will be.”

The 2-3 percent increase amounts to 40-51 cents more per hour for the three full-time employees (district manager, wetland specialist, and water management specialist) and the part-time office assistant. This year’s budget for employee salaries and benefits totals $85,671.

District manager Jill Carlier explained that funding for the SWCD comes from three sources: approximately 44 percent from county taxpayers, 35-40 percent from the state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources (BOWSR), and the remaining portion from SWCD fund-raisers like plat book sales, the tree program, and aerial photo services.

As far as the county portion, says Odegard, “I think we can afford a pay raise for employees.” He expects that budget talks will focus on other ways for the SWCD to save money, possibly in the areas of health insurance, computer services, and more affordable housing space. Department supervisors recently suggested that the county move the SWCD office from its rental space in Hinckley to the Sandstone Land Building, which could result in an annual savings of $25,000. The county board is expected to discuss this notion in its ongoing 2010 budget talks that will wrap up in mid-December.

Waldhalm and Thomson urged supervisors to hold off on any employee pay increase until the county has finalized the budget. They figured that if warranted, the employees could have received retro pay increases. “We’re not trying to take money away from the employees, but you don’t spend money you don’t have,” said Waldhalm.

Odegard sympathizes with the employees, who were not given a pay increase last year. He anticipates that the county will allot adequate funding for the SWCD operating budget. “I think we should be able to afford them a raise,” he said.

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