Seward County employees may receive a 2% pay increase across the board with the option of additional merit increases for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners on May 5 discussed the upcoming budget plans and employee evaluations, intending to avoid past situations where current pay rates fell below market rates.
Meeting with Human Resources Director Roxanne Knutson and Assistant Human Resources Director Tiffany Allen, the board noted that in recent years it has increased wages by a small percent and followed up with additional increases based upon employee evaluations and merit.
Board Chair Misty Ahmic advocated for establishing a standard yearly increase for all jobs and starting salaries for vacant positions. If a 2% standard increase was established, Ahmic said department heads could better budget and the county could assure basic wages are more competitive.
A merit increase would be determined by the board and allocated by department heads, which for this year, the board then set at 2% as they adopted the standard increase for all positions, including starting wages.
The board also circled back to discussion with Detention Center Director Sara Stenger, who in late April, requested a hiring bonus she could offer to attract a female corrections officer to fill what was deemed an essential position for jail operations.
In recent hiring efforts, the county has used a two-tier bonus system using one level of bonus for positions based on the time the job has been vacant.
Commissioners raised questions about how the bonuses and vacant positions were tracked, and Ahmic proposed going to a single hiring bonus policy that would not require commission approvals.
Instead, the policy would allow a hiring department head to implement a bonus when a job has been vacant for 30 days or more. The current Tier 2 bonus plan would be used, which offers $3,500, with $500 payable after 90 days of employment, $1,000 after six months, and $2,000 after the employee completes a year.
While there was some discussion of the potential need to utilize a hiring bonus prior to that 30-day vacancy, the board asked Knutson to work with Deputy County Attorney Barbara Armstead to bring a policy back to the board.
In the meantime, the board approved Stenger’s request for a Tier 2 bonus for the hiring of a corrections officer on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Darrell Zabrocki casting the no vote.
In the past, Zabrocki has voted against hiring bonuses, saying they are ineffective as incentives.
The board also discussed its timeline for evaluating county department heads. Ahmic asked board members to complete evaluations for the departments they are assigned as liaisons by May 20 for discussion on May 26.
In other business, the board:
• Authorized an addendum to the Central Square Technologies agreement allowing the E911 interlocal multi-county group to bring Fillmore County into the current agreement and allow Fillmore County access to Central Square data, noting that a new agreement will be enacted soon.
• Approved audio and video application service agreements with Cidnet and Encartele, which were omitted from the two agreements approved for content and security application data usage and audio and video application purchases at the Detention Center on May 1.
• Discussed the board’s recent approval of additional funding for Public Defender Tana Fye related to payment of an expert witness in a misdemeanor case, and whether the county’s contract with her needs to be changed to address the situation or whether the current contract is acceptable because the court determines payment level for expert witnesses. Ahmic is to meet with Fye on the topic.
• Cancelled the May 12 commissioners’ meeting due to County Clerk Brandy Johnson’s work with the primary election that day.
• Approved a short-form plat for Knuth’s Subdivision in Township 11 North.
