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Commissioner Gordon feels that one of the most significant things we want to do is a <br />countywide pay and classification study. She feels we are going in the right direction and feels that <br />the 401 (k) should be enhanced. As far as the meritorious service awards, she would not give up <br />on it yet. She would like to find out what the problems are and figure out a way to reward those <br />employees who are really doing a great job. Regarding the countywide pay and classification <br />study, she feels that we need to lack at the structure of County government by doing a <br />management study. She supports the current plan with same tweaks to see how we can enhance <br />the present plan. <br />Chair Carey asked about the employee consortium and some of the comments that were <br />made. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that there were maybe 12 questions and only one or two were <br />about meritorious service awards. The meritorious service award was something that people <br />identified as not working well. He talked about partnering with organizations in the community to <br />provide a transition for Spanish speaking citizens to learn to speak English. He has noticed that <br />Hispanic and handicapped employees are not prevalent in County government. <br />Jahn Link said that there have been changes in the organization with the addition of one <br />new department. He agrees with looking at the organization of County government and doing a <br />pay classification study. The two go hand in hand. He has heard from the Board that it wants to <br />keep what is good in the plan and improve the 401 (k} contribution. In terms of in-range, that is <br />based on proficient performance. Proficient is defined as doing your job and doing it well. He feels <br />that the merit system is the most troubling. He spoke about his personal experience with merit <br />awards and that in 1972 his supervisor could not give him a merit award because it was not his <br />turn. There is still a challenge to reward high performers. He asked that the County <br />Commissioners let staff look at the system and bring back a recommendation. He asked Elaine <br />Holmes to bring back information on how Wake County does their merit program. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked John Link what he feels about pay for performance systems. <br />John Link said that it is a very difficult system. The County now has a variation of evaluation. All <br />of the pay increases are based on some evaluation process. <br />Chair Carey said that he supports the general direction we are going. He feels we should <br />stay the course for the next two years. Although he has concerns about how the merit system is <br />implemented, he recognizes that department heads have different criteria for evaluation. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that the County has the perception that there is a big <br />bureaucracy in County government that needs cutting. We cannot just give people numbers <br />without giving them haw the services have expanded over the last few years. We need to da a <br />better jab of explaining to people why the County cuts out some things and expands some others. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that if we do an organizational study, he hopes we will look at <br />it holistically. <br />John Link made reference to the 401 (k) program and said that the North Carolina <br />Association of County Commissioners is supporting a bill to reduce the employee contribution from <br />6% to 5% for the retirement system. This 1 °lo could be used as a match far 401 (k}. <br />Chair Carey would like to see the $15.00 stay in place far the 401 (k) rather than choosing a <br />percentage. He thinks that a percentage would be counter to the objective that we are trying to <br />achieve for the lower salaried employees. <br />Commissioner Brown asked if Elaine Holmes could come back with other possibilities for <br />401 (k) and a configuration of the study, which would be expanded. Also, she would like to see a <br />way to make the merit program more acceptable. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that maybe we should work toward a goal of dealing with the <br />gross inequities in the pay and salary study that was furnished to the County Commissioners last <br />month. The meritorious service awards could be phased out while another program is phased in. <br />Commissioner Brown asked if any of the meritorious service awards could be connected <br />with the Commissioners goals and John Link said that there is only a handful of departments who <br />have goals. He said that we are in a market where bonuses are given out and our employees see <br />