Putnam also considers lower premiums for employees
A consultant is recommending salary increases for Putnam County public health nurses and other positions. At the same time, the Legislature took up a proposal to dramatically reduce the amounts employees contribute to their health coverage.
Julia Culkin-Jacobia of Catapult Executive Consulting presented to the Legislature's Personnel Committee on Sept. 18 the results of her review of the salaries paid to employees covered by the Civil Service Employees Association, the county's largest union.
The committee also reviewed a draft agreement between County Executive Kevin Byrne and labor unions that would cap the employee share of their health insurance premiums at 17 percent, instead of the current maximum of 30 percent.
The six nursing jobs in the Department of Health were the original focus of the study, but it expanded to include other positions as Putnam seeks to improve recruitment and retention. For nurses, Culkin-Jacobia suggests that Putnam boost the starting rate from $72,269 to $75,770 by reassigning them to a higher CSEA pay scale, Grade 19 instead of Grade 18. The starting salary would then be closer to the average of $74,153 in seven "peer counties," including Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Westchester.
Kathy Percacciolo, the nursing supervisor for the Health Department, said that many counties and hospitals used pandemic relief funds to raise the salaries of public health nurses, but in Putnam, "the COVID money was not used for that reason, which set us back."
Putnam has had a "real struggle" to fill the nursing positions, said Paul Eldridge, the county personnel officer. Five of the six positions are now filled, but three were open as recently as August, he said. To entice new hires, the county is offering starting pay at the higher end of Grade 18, but that leaves little room for raises. Reclassifying the positions to Grade 19 allows the county to offer higher starting pay while retaining the "ability to use the other steps" of the higher grade, he said.
Culkin-Jacobia also suggested changes for management positions, ranging from confidential secretaries and directors to assistant district attorneys and the county executive's staff, that do not have salary scales. She recommended a 12-grade scale "to help manage costs and also have a guideline for administration to make salary decisions." Each grade would have a minimum salary ranging from $62,080 to $177,121, as well as maximums ($80,960 to $230,988).
Culkin-Jacobia identified several management positions for raises, including the county auditor (7 to 10 percent), the two elections commissioners (5 percent), an IT systems specialist (28 percent) and the park superintendent (5 percent).
"With the labor shortage over the last two to three years, especially, there's been a lot of retention issues, especially as people were retiring from the county," she said.
The challenge of recruiting and retaining employees also prompted Byrne to create a committee to review the amount that workers must contribute to their health insurance premiums. Many new hires pay 30 percent, which falls as they accrue time, Eldridge said. Putnam's rate is significantly higher than the cap in Dutchess and Westchester (20 percent each) and Orange (16 percent) counties.
Under the proposal, the 30 percent contributions would be reduced to 17 percent under an agreement between Byrne, the CSEA and the three other unions that represent Putnam employees: the Putnam County Sheriff's Employee Association (jail guards and staff), the Putnam Management Association and the Sheriff's PBA (deputies).
The committee also calculated the costs if the county changed the maximum to 20 percent, 18 percent or 15 percent, but Byrne, in a letter to the Personnel Committee, called the 17 percent cap "reasonable, fiscally informed, fair and regionally competitive."
Eldridge said that 225 Putnam employees would benefit. The plan would add $865,000 to the $11.5 milli...
