How much should people who are elected to county government positions be paid? And how often should the board that oversees those positions meet?

Those were just two of the items on a full agenda for the Jefferson County commissioners this week. Here's a rundown of everything that was discussed. 

From scheduling to salaries, safety to data searches, some changes could be coming to Jefferson County government.  

In a full agenda this week, the county board considered significant increases to the annual salaries earned by county department heads. Here in Jefferson County, roles like the sheriff, attorney, assessor and clerks earn significantly less compared to other counties that are close in geography or population such as Gage and Saline, which could make it difficult to attract and retain people to fill those roles.  

According to Nebraska statute, salaries for these roles can only be adjusted on a four-year cycle, compared to employees in any of those departments who could have their wages adjusted every year, and just received raises earlier this year.  

“I feel like we all need a bump,” county sheriff Nick Georgi said. “I’ve only been here since 2021, but over the past few years we’ve given raises, and given raises, and given raises to our employees – because we’ve needed to – but we’re stuck on a resolution for ours. I feel like the elected officials have fallen behind. We need to get caught up. We’ve all been locked in for so many years by resolution, and our employees have gotten more. And it’s coming to a point, in my opinion, where I’m the one taking the liability.” 

One of the proposals was to increase salaries of these employees by ten percent starting in 2027, and then by four percent in each of the following three years. The board will settle on a plan at the final meeting of the year, December 30.  

“Whatever raise we give, 100 percent of the blame is going to fall on the commissioners, not on the other elected officials," commissioner Michael Dux said. "[The public] will say it’s the commissioners’ fault that they gave such a big raise. It appears that we are behind, but I think a 10 percent raise is a terribly hard sell to the public.” 

“We’re behind right now, and we’ve got the data that supports that," commissioner Mark Schoenrock said. "A lot of you in this room have heard me say, in the almost 11 years that I’ve been a commissioner, our primary responsibility is the budget. But along with that goes to be able to recruit and to retain a quality workforce. And if you’re behind on your compensation package, you’re not going to be able to achieve that objective.” 

This county board has convened nearly every Tuesday of every month for years, but they say that’s far from standard: most other county boards meet only twice a month, and starting January 13, Jefferson County will follow suit, meeting every other Tuesday, in line with the payroll schedule.  

“We ran into the conundrum of the payroll week not coinciding, and then that gets a little sticky – there's things you could do to get around it, but I think [that decision] gets you here on a consistent basis, it coincides with your payroll, and it adds two claims periods to the year,” county clerk Kris Riggle said. “Also, on that note, if you switch to a reduced meeting schedule, between meetings and minutes notices, you’re going to save between $3,500 and $4,000 in publication costs.”  

Many other counties also recognize Arbor Day and Juneteenth as holidays, in line with either state or federal guidelines. The commissioners elected to keep those two dates off their schedule, keeping their annual allotted days off set at 12.  

Echoing an organizational setup executed in other counties, commissioner Danielle Schwab had presented a liaison system for this board a couple of times this year. It would essentially assign one of the three commissioners as a direct point of contact for each of the departments, creating a more direct communication pathway. Reaction to that plan was mixed, and on Tuesday Schwab decided to drop it for now, concluding it “wasn’t the right fit” for the county at this point in time.  

Coming soon to all county departments will be a revamped panic button system. Executed by the sheriff’s office and the IT department, the new product will connect all components of county government to the same system, even those that don’t work inside the courthouse.  

“It covers the courthouse, dispatch, extension office, highway department, emergency management – every county office has them,” Georgi said. “It’ll take a month, two months to do some pre-surveys, how we’re setting it up. Most of it is set up in the warehouse before they [the installers] come out.” 

Much of the cost of the upgrades will come out of a more general sheriff’s office tax fund once it became clear that NIRMA grant funding would only cover a small chunk of the bill. Once they’re paid for, the panic buttons will all be installed, replacing the existing system, within a day or two early next year.  

And on the table is a potential upgrade to the county’s Geographic Information Systems. Schneider Geospatial, which already works with about 18 counties in Nebraska, presented its product to Jefferson County personnel this week. It could help departments like the assessor and emergency services – and the citizens who utilize them – better understand and interact with data pertaining to properties and taxes.  

“We kind of look at it as a digital courthouse, where we bring in all of the GIS data,” Sarah Dickmeyer, a customer success manager with Schneider, said in her presentation. “We don’t charge extra for offices to bring extra GIS data on, we tie into your existing databases. It’s a one-stop shop really for all information.” 

To make the move over to Schneider, the county would have to break from their existing contract with GWorks. They’ll take action on that plan in a future meeting.