Pay for several county jobs -- particularly for newly hired workers -- remains below the salaries in neighboring entities, a human resources survey has found.

Dorothy Person, president of Public Employment HR Consulting, recently presented the Lampasas County Commissioners Court with a 2009 market survey. The study indicated that at time of hire for an applicant who meets minimum position qualifications, Lampasas County pays, on average, 79.1 percent of the market rate.

Although many of the maximum salaries on Lampasas County's pay scales are close to those in neighboring entities, some positions pay less than 80 percent of the wage offered for comparable jobs in other counties. The highest salaries on Lampasas County's scales for jail administrator and county auditor chief deputy are 78.1 percent and 66.6 percent, respectively, of the market rate.

At both the high point and low end of each position's pay scale, a salary between 90 percent and 110 percent of the market average is considered competitive with nearby entities, Ms. Person said.

"This verifies that the county is below average for pay in comparison to other counties," she said of the wage survey.

The market analysis compared salaries for more than 15 "benchmark" jobs in Bell, Burnet, Brown, Coryell, Erath, Hamilton, Llano, Mills, San Saba and Williamson counties as well as the city of Lampasas. Survey results did not include a comparison of Lampasas County salaries and the market average for equipment operator foreman, assistant county attorney, emergency management coordinator and elections administrator -- the position Ms. Person holds with Lampasas County.

At the recent meeting, commissioners did not vote on pay increases, but county officials expressed interest in raising salaries by a few percentage points in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

With starting salaries lower than the market average, Lampasas County likely will have trouble hiring qualified employees, Ms. Person said.

Sheriff David Whitis said law enforcement hiring and retention especially have suffered. Several neighboring counties and cities offer higher initial pay than Lampasas County, and Whitis said some entities offer bonus pay for educational certifications and bilingual competence.

The sheriff recently learned he will be losing an employee to Bell County, which Whitis said pays more than Lampasas County.

"When I first started in law enforcement, you had to beg people to hire you and put you through the academy," Whitis said. "Now, you have to beg people to come work for you."

County Auditor Jack Clark added that, although the county offers what he considers excellent benefits, higher salaries at nearby public employers have lured away several workers. The city of Lampasas has been one of the county's main competitors for employees, Clark said, noting that County Clerk Connie Hartmann recently lost an employee to the municipality purely for salary reasons.

Ms. Person suggested several changes the Commissioners Court could make to the county's pay system, including reducing the current 20 pay steps to just five pay ranges. Under such a system, workers would receive raises of 9 or 10 percent each time they rose to a new salary range. Salary ranges would be based on the number of years of employment for the county.

Most public employers use 10 to 12 pay ranges, Ms. Person said, and the consultant called 20 pay steps "unusually high." A market analysis performed in 1999 by DMG Inc. recommended 10 steps, she added.

In lieu of decreasing to five ranges, the county could increase starting pay by enacting a series of four raises of 5 to 6 percent apiece by December 2010.

Alternatively, county officials could eliminate the three lowest pay classifications this year and do the same in mid-2010.

As a result, new employees would be paid at what is now step 6 or 7 on the county scale. In that case, Ms. Person said county officials would need to make slight pay adjustments to ensure that new workers did not receive higher salaries than existing employees with similar occupations.

Whitis said for the sheriff's office, he favors dropping to five pay ranges -- the system he said state law enforcement agencies and many local sheriff and police departments use. "That also rewards [employees] for staying with us and being loyal to your employer."

Clark said the county needs to increase starting salaries, but the auditor said too dramatic an increase would burden taxpayers. "Even if they agreed with us, they'd lynch us if we did this all at once," he said.

County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse agreed, saying small annual raises would have less of an effect on taxpayers than increases of several percentage points once every few years.

Clark said he will recommend a 3 percent pay raise in the 2009-10 fiscal year.