WALLACE — After years of debate over uneven pay across departments, Shoshone County commissioners this week got their first detailed look at a long-awaited wage study aimed at bringing consistency and competitiveness to county employee salaries. 

Shoshone County Grants Administrator Colleen Rosson, who worked alongside consulting firm BestDay HR, led the presentation, explaining the findings and the conclusions reached as she and the county’s wage study committee reviewed thousands of lines of comparative data. 

BestDay HR was awarded the project after submitting a $20,000 bid. The project was funded using the county's ARPA dollars.

Discussions about conducting a wage study have been ongoing for years, but the effort was finally initiated due to concerns over inconsistent pay scales across county departments.

The goal of the study was to aid the commissioners in aligning county compensation with that of similar counties statewide. Shoshone County does not currently maintain a single, standardized base wage; instead, it uses department-specific pay matrices and position-based wage ranges. In the past, departments were allowed to create their own pay scales with board approval, but only some, including the roads department and the sheriff’s office, completed the process, resulting in further pay disparities. 

The approved study was supposed to include factors such as base wages, job responsibilities, skill sets, working conditions, benefits, and employee tenure. However, the presented results focused solely on wages and did not include benefits. 

According to Rosson, a full compensation study is far more comprehensive and considerably more expensive than the wage study commissioned by the county. 

“I know across the board our employees pay a lot less for our health benefits than other agencies,” Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman said. 

Among its recommendations, the study calls for the creation of a single, unified pay matrix. Currently, the county operates with four separate pay matrices. 

Based on the findings, the recommended base wage for the county would be $14.50 per hour. Rosson noted that relatively few employees would require wage increases if the county chose to adopt that base rate. 

“If it were to be adopted, this would be a great starting point that has a minimal impact,” Rosson said. 

The study also highlighted potential effects on employee retention. Some data points indicate that recruiting and training new employees can cost one and a half to two times an employee’s salary, compared to the expense of paying slightly higher wages. 

After reviewing the findings, Zimmerman asked for clarification on why the Idaho State Police were used as a comparison point in the study. 

“ISP is a competitor, and we lose people to ISP,” Rosson said. 

Overall, the results were largely positive. Shoshone County Assessor Jerry White, who has worked for the county for more than 20 years, said he was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. 

“This study showed we’re in a better position than I thought we were,” White said. “When our employees come to us, we can use this to show, well, you know, this is where we’re at, and then we can discuss from there.” 

The next steps for the county include determining whether to adopt the proposed unified pay matrix and bringing any employees earning below the recommended base wage up to that level. 

“The first step would be saying, ‘This works for the county. Let’s go ahead and adopt this as our pay matrix,’” Rosson said. “But ultimately that is up to you guys, and you know, does it make sense for us fiscally, culturally, and to keep us modernized?” 

Following that decision, commissioners would seek input from the county’s elected officials and department heads. 

Commissioner Dave Dose said he would like to see the county move forward sooner rather than later, particularly with budget season approaching. 

“I just don’t want to do all this work and then forget to move forward,” Dose said. “We’ve got to figure out the budgetary impact, obviously. But it would be nice to figure out next steps since they’ve worked so hard.” 

One of the immediate benefits that was discussed was how this would make things much easier for county clerk Lori Osterberg and her staff, who currently must navigate multiple pay scales each month when they handle the county’s payroll.  

The path to completing the wage study took several years. Originally approved in 2023, the first consulting firm hired, AmeriBen, informed commissioners it would be unable to complete the project just weeks before its anticipated completion. Last summer, the board accepted a bid from BestDay HR to finish the study. 

No future meetings on the issue have been scheduled.