According to Summit County Manager Shayne Scott, 42% of county government employees don’t live in the county they serve.
“And unfortunately, that number is increasing every year,” he said on the “Local News Hour” Sept. 24. “So the number of people that live in the county and work for the county is decreasing.”
That means the county is competing with other municipalities, particularly in the Salt Lake Valley, for talent.
With a federal jobs report showing steady wage growth over the past 12 months, the county says it’s an employee-friendly labor market.
“Retaining and recruiting the best employees we can get under the financial restraints that we have is perhaps our number one concern as an administration,” Scott said. “We are losing people.”
To come up with solutions, staff convened a “compensation committee” with two councilmembers in March.
That committee will deliver recommendations to the council Wednesday, Sept. 25, a week before Scott releases a recommended FY2025 budget.
A county staff report indicates the proposed budget will include cost of living adjustments for employees based on last year’s inflation levels.
Looming over budget talks is a projected shortfall in excess of $10 million. To make up the gap, the county council has put a 0.5% sales tax on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Matt Leavitt, the county’s chief financial officer, has estimated up to two thirds of county sales tax revenue comes from non-primary residents.
That’s as opposed to property taxes, which tend to impact locals more, given rising property values.
There’s a mid-October deadline for the council to vote to begin the process of raising property taxes for next year. Councilmembers may do that because they don’t know if the sales tax will pass this November.
If it does pass, Scott said, the council is likely to stop the property tax hike process, which would require a final vote in December.
The council's meeting begins at 1:45 p.m. in council chambers at the County Courthouse on Coalville's Main Street. Click here for the full agenda and to attend online.
