Commissioners Approve Ordinance Creating County HR Dept.
January 22, 2020 at 1:28 a.m.
Commissioners Approve Ordinance Creating County HR Dept.
By David [email protected]
County attorney Chad Miner presented the ordinance to the commissioners, separating the human resources (HR) function from the county administrator’s office and creating the HR department that would be staffed by an HR director and HR specialist. The county administrator is Marsha McSherry.
Miner is working with Waggoner Irwin Scheele & Associates, a management and research consulting firm out of Muncie, on creating the HR department.
County Commissioner Bob Conley asked if the consulting firm was putting together a job description and other details. Miner said that was correct.
Cary Groninger, county commissioner, asked County Auditor Michelle Puckett, “As far as with that, from a salary perspective, I know that we have – once these positions are defined, and the job descriptions are defined and Waggoner Irwin Scheele normally defines where they fit on the (compensation) chart, can we go ahead and establish this? I know at some point the (county) council may have to get involved depending on if the salaries change or don’t change.” He asked if the process was proceeding in the correct order.
Puckett responded, “Typically, once those job classifications are reviewed, if they do change on the comp chart, that would first go to the wage committee to review and then give that recommendation to council.” The council then would review it and vote on accepting it or not. If wages goes up or down, those adjustments then would be made, she said.
Groninger asked if they could approve the ordinance establishing the HR department Tuesday, contingent upon what the job descriptions are. Puckett said yes.
Groninger made a motion to approve the ordinance separating HR from the county administrator. With Conley and Groninger voting in favor of the ordinance, it was approved 2-0. Commissioner Brad Jackson was not present.
After the meeting, Groninger was asked why the county was creating a separate HR department.
“The county has grown, and we just want to make sure that department is accessible as it can be for all employees to be able to use. There’s some things we’re wanting to do to just improve our overall HR interaction with our employees, so we decided it would be best if we pulled that away from the administrator and be a direct report to us. It’s working more autonomously of the administrator to make sure the employees are getting the representation they need as far as from HR stuff,” Groninger said.
He said McSherry will still be handling all the contracts, capital expenditures, budgets and different appointments.
Human resources “was a very, very small part of her position that she performed each week,” Groninger said. “I think there’s times when there’s more controversial – let’s put HR things – that are going on that she’s more involved with, but the day-to-day activities – the two ladies, especially the one lady in particular, does the majority of that work.”
Cathy Reed and Cari Williams are the HR specialists Groninger was referencing.
McSherry and the new HR director will report directly to the county commissioners.
In 1995, former county sheriff Ron Robinson began overseeing human resources for the county. Within months, he was asked if he would like to serve as a county administrator. Robinson was the first county administrator for Kosciusko County, which was among the first counties in the state to have such a position. Robinson retired three years ago, and McSherry took over, according to previous Times-Union articles.
Earlier in the commissioners’ meeting, the commissioners approved the annual Board of Finance organization and investment policy, as requested by county Treasurer Rhonda Helser. Conley has agreed to be the board’s president again.
“We had $187,893.79 interest increase from last year to this year (’19). The interest rate did fall. It started out in March of ’19 at 2.460% and ended in ’19 at 1.74% through our Lake City Bank account,” Helser reported.
The commissioners also approved the cancellation of warrants, as requested by Helser. “These are checks that are two years old that have not been cashed, so those will be put back in the general fund,” she explained.
For informational purposes, Helser updated the commissioners on the Tax Refund Exchange & Compliance System (TRECS) that the county implemented in 2019.
“We did collect $22,908.41 in past due taxes through that program. It is working,” she said.
Conley said the program is being successful.
Groninger asked if TRECS was the program that garnishes people’s Indiana state tax returns. Helser said it was, and it will be starting again this year.
“Yeah, it’s not like they don’t have the money. It’s just that they decide not to pay it,” Conley said.
In other business, the commissioners approved:
• Appointing Joe Cleland to the Lakeland Regional Sewer District Board of Trustees, as requested by Jim Haney, LRSD. Cleland will be filling the remainder of Greg Mitchell’s term, which has three months left in it. Mitchell resigned in December. Along with Cleland finishing out Mitchell’s term, the commissioners approved for him to serve another four-year term, which would extend Cleland’s term out to 2024. Haney said Cleland owns two properties within the district and has been in the area for almost 20 years.
• Chris Rassi to the Bell Memorial Public Library board.
• Stop sign ordinances for Crows Nest Drive, Crestview and Bluebird Acres, as requested by Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty.
“These are county highway subdivisions that’ve been taken into our road (system) the last few years. These are just the ordinances backing up the signs that are in there,” Moriarty said.
The next commissioners meeting is 9 a.m. Feb. 4.
County attorney Chad Miner presented the ordinance to the commissioners, separating the human resources (HR) function from the county administrator’s office and creating the HR department that would be staffed by an HR director and HR specialist. The county administrator is Marsha McSherry.
Miner is working with Waggoner Irwin Scheele & Associates, a management and research consulting firm out of Muncie, on creating the HR department.
County Commissioner Bob Conley asked if the consulting firm was putting together a job description and other details. Miner said that was correct.
Cary Groninger, county commissioner, asked County Auditor Michelle Puckett, “As far as with that, from a salary perspective, I know that we have – once these positions are defined, and the job descriptions are defined and Waggoner Irwin Scheele normally defines where they fit on the (compensation) chart, can we go ahead and establish this? I know at some point the (county) council may have to get involved depending on if the salaries change or don’t change.” He asked if the process was proceeding in the correct order.
Puckett responded, “Typically, once those job classifications are reviewed, if they do change on the comp chart, that would first go to the wage committee to review and then give that recommendation to council.” The council then would review it and vote on accepting it or not. If wages goes up or down, those adjustments then would be made, she said.
Groninger asked if they could approve the ordinance establishing the HR department Tuesday, contingent upon what the job descriptions are. Puckett said yes.
Groninger made a motion to approve the ordinance separating HR from the county administrator. With Conley and Groninger voting in favor of the ordinance, it was approved 2-0. Commissioner Brad Jackson was not present.
After the meeting, Groninger was asked why the county was creating a separate HR department.
“The county has grown, and we just want to make sure that department is accessible as it can be for all employees to be able to use. There’s some things we’re wanting to do to just improve our overall HR interaction with our employees, so we decided it would be best if we pulled that away from the administrator and be a direct report to us. It’s working more autonomously of the administrator to make sure the employees are getting the representation they need as far as from HR stuff,” Groninger said.
He said McSherry will still be handling all the contracts, capital expenditures, budgets and different appointments.
Human resources “was a very, very small part of her position that she performed each week,” Groninger said. “I think there’s times when there’s more controversial – let’s put HR things – that are going on that she’s more involved with, but the day-to-day activities – the two ladies, especially the one lady in particular, does the majority of that work.”
Cathy Reed and Cari Williams are the HR specialists Groninger was referencing.
McSherry and the new HR director will report directly to the county commissioners.
In 1995, former county sheriff Ron Robinson began overseeing human resources for the county. Within months, he was asked if he would like to serve as a county administrator. Robinson was the first county administrator for Kosciusko County, which was among the first counties in the state to have such a position. Robinson retired three years ago, and McSherry took over, according to previous Times-Union articles.
Earlier in the commissioners’ meeting, the commissioners approved the annual Board of Finance organization and investment policy, as requested by county Treasurer Rhonda Helser. Conley has agreed to be the board’s president again.
“We had $187,893.79 interest increase from last year to this year (’19). The interest rate did fall. It started out in March of ’19 at 2.460% and ended in ’19 at 1.74% through our Lake City Bank account,” Helser reported.
The commissioners also approved the cancellation of warrants, as requested by Helser. “These are checks that are two years old that have not been cashed, so those will be put back in the general fund,” she explained.
For informational purposes, Helser updated the commissioners on the Tax Refund Exchange & Compliance System (TRECS) that the county implemented in 2019.
“We did collect $22,908.41 in past due taxes through that program. It is working,” she said.
Conley said the program is being successful.
Groninger asked if TRECS was the program that garnishes people’s Indiana state tax returns. Helser said it was, and it will be starting again this year.
“Yeah, it’s not like they don’t have the money. It’s just that they decide not to pay it,” Conley said.
In other business, the commissioners approved:
• Appointing Joe Cleland to the Lakeland Regional Sewer District Board of Trustees, as requested by Jim Haney, LRSD. Cleland will be filling the remainder of Greg Mitchell’s term, which has three months left in it. Mitchell resigned in December. Along with Cleland finishing out Mitchell’s term, the commissioners approved for him to serve another four-year term, which would extend Cleland’s term out to 2024. Haney said Cleland owns two properties within the district and has been in the area for almost 20 years.
• Chris Rassi to the Bell Memorial Public Library board.
• Stop sign ordinances for Crows Nest Drive, Crestview and Bluebird Acres, as requested by Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty.
“These are county highway subdivisions that’ve been taken into our road (system) the last few years. These are just the ordinances backing up the signs that are in there,” Moriarty said.
The next commissioners meeting is 9 a.m. Feb. 4.
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