Shoshone County adopts interim pay matrix

WALLACE — The Shoshone County commissioners made a significant change to the county’s pay scale when they recently adopted an interim pay matrix.   

The change will affect all employees of departments housed within the courthouse, with the exception of elected officials and the county roads department.  

Previously, the departments had been tasked with creating their own pay matrix, determining how they would pay each employee based on experience, skill and tenure. 

Instead of multiple pay matrices, the county will now operate under a single matrix, with unified step and grade increases, simplifying the payroll process for the clerk’s office.  

Concerns over employee pay and how it might be affected were raised during a meeting between the board and several elected officials. However, according to Interim Clerk Peggy White, the affected employees will see slight pay increases.  

Earlier this year, as the county prepared its annual budget, $148,000 was earmarked for increasing wages. Each employee operating under the new pay scale will receive a minimum 1% raise.  

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman acknowledged that this increase might not come close to what some employees may have been due to receive.

“The whole purpose was to catch up the clerk’s side and everybody else with the roads department and the sheriff’s department to make it more even,” Zimmerman said. “I would think, being that this is an interim system that we approve it upon getting a wage study. This is going to change. We are getting the wage study this year, and I think during the interim this would put everybody on the same (scale). We didn’t change anything, just the amounts changed.”  

Once that wage study is complete, the commissioners expect to sit with the clerk, other elected officials and department heads to determine the county’s new pay matrix. 

Shoshone County Roads Department, sheriff’s office and solid waste will continue to operate under their independent matrices.