Sep. 7—JAMESTOWN — Leaders of their departments told the Stutsman County Commission on Tuesday, Sept. 6, that they are dealing with worker shortages, which is leading to lots of hours of overtime, and asked for a 10.6% raise instead of a 6% wage increase.

"Recently the commission approved a 6% wage increase for our team," said Josh Greeney, one of the supervisors of the Stutsman County Communications Center. "While the increase is appreciated by our team and will help incentivize new hire applicants to apply, we do not believe it's enough to sustain the center through this staffing crisis."

He said staff knows the Stutsman County budget is tight but believes the 10.6% increase is an important component to recruiting and retaining employees.

The Stutsman County Commission recently approved a 4% cost-of-living adjustment and 2% step raise.

The county commission took no action on the request for the wage increase to 10.6%.

Stutsman County Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking said another Stutsman County Communications Center employee resigned, which will leave eight employees in the center. He said having eight employees will force the center to pay for mandatory overtime.

With a staff of eight people in the center, employees will be required to work 16 hours of mandatory overtime per week. He said if the staff stays at eight people, it will cost about $67,000 per year mandatory overtime.

"That is a dispatcher and a half right there," he said.

If the center is left with seven employees, he said each dispatcher will need to work eight hours of overtime per week.

"I'm at the point now where I need to keep people and try to make the people I have feel content and appreciated with the sacrifice they are making for everybody here," he said.

The regular methods of recruitment and retention haven't worked to bring in fresh, dedicated employees and retain valuable long-time employees, Greeney said. He said the center has been operating with two fewer full-time staff since October 2021.

He said the supervisor team has worked diligently with staff to relieve the excess stress of the work environment and boost morale.

"This includes items as minimal as small token thanks like pizza or a pick-me-up gifts and as large as redefining the entire schedule to maximize the work-home balance, center efficiency and the 24/7 operability all without faltering from the standards held by our team for the residents and agencies we proudly serve," he said.

The Stutsman County Communications Center has processed over 18,000 calls for service for more than 35 different agencies in the area, Greeney said.

Jim Wentland, road superintendent, said he is concerned about the personnel shortage as well. He said the road department has had openings since June 1 but nobody has shown any interest in working for the county.

"We have bridge repairs coming up here in the next two weeks, and I don't have enough manpower to get those done," he said.

The Stutsman County Correctional Center is on pace to bust its budget by more than $12,000 this year, said Ryan Deleon, deputy jail administrator for the Stutsman County Correctional Center. He said the correctional center has been fully staffed for two days for two consecutive years.

"That puts a big burden on our staff," he said.

He said the correctional center struggles to recruit employees with the current starting wage, which is 43 cents per hour lower than what the Barnes County Correctional Facility starts its workers at. He said to run the Stutsman County Correctional Center to its full capabilities the current employees need to be adequately compensated and the commission needs to assist in attracting quality workers.

"We do not need to outpace the market, but we need to keep pace," Deleon said.

He said the 6% wage increase is significant and is appreciated.

"It doesn't cut it right now," he said. "I urge the commission to be good stewards of the taxpayer funds, be proactive and not reactive to the crisis that is facing us."

In other business, the county commission approved 4-0 to help add handicap accessibility improvements to the Medina polling location. The county also approved the American Legion in Medina as a polling location.

The county will contribute $2,000 to install a new handicap-accessible ramp at the American Legion in Medina. The new ramp costs about $6,000. Medina City Commissioner Mitch Gunderson said he will talk to the American Legion board and Medina City Council to contribute $2,000 each to pay for the new ramp.