BENTONVILLE -- Benton County's justices of the peace on Tuesday forwarded 15 requests for new employees to the Finance Committee for consideration.
The Personnel Committee ranked the 15 positions in priority order, with an Information Technology support specialist and a jailer being tied for the top spot. Another jailer was the third-ranked position and a request to change one part-time janitor to a full-time position came in fourth.
What’s next
Benton County’s Finance Committee will be asked to consider new personnel requests when the panel meets at 6 p.m. July 7 in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215. E Central Ave. in Bentonville.
The committee also recommended the Finance Committee consider a number of wage or grade and title changes. Shirley Sandlin, committee chairman, said the rankings given to the job requests may not influence the Finance Committee's decision on adding them to the budget.
"Every bit of this goes from here to finance," Sandlin said. "Then all bets are off as to how it ranks there."
Sheriff Meyer Gilbert asked the panel to approve six Jailer I positions now because of jail space that's being built. The new space will house another 45 to 50 misdemeanor inmates, Gilbert said. The ground work on the addition is done, and work on the foundation is set to begin June 27. If the positions are approved, Gilbert hopes to have them filled by mid-August so the new jailers can be trained before the addition opens. The cost for six jailers this year, if the jobs are approved and filled in August, would be about $101,659, said Barb Ludwig, human resources director. The cost of six jailers for a full year would be about $264,315.
Gilbert told the justices of the peace once the expansion is completed the Sheriff's Office will need 12 jailers to staff the facility. The cost of 12 jailers would be about $528,000 for a full year, according to Ludwig.
There also were requests for two IT support specialists and six positions for the Road Department. Both of those requests were in the 2016 budget but weren't approved. Filling the two position for the rest of 2016 would cost the county about $42,275 and cost about $109,916 for a full year.
Eddie Mahar, head of the Information Technology department, said the additional positions are needed to meet increasing demands for technology services. Mahar said the department has to "triage" requests for service now, leading to delays and frustration when services aren't available.
"Providing that level of service and quickly, I don't consider that wasted resources, I consider that a good use of resources," he said.
Jay Frasier, head of the Road Department, presented a request for two welder mechanics, two equipment operators, a truck driver and a general laborer. Filling those would cost about $99,788 for 2016 and about $259,450 for a full year.
Frasier said three of the positions being requested -- one operator, the truck driver and the laborer -- would be used to form a patch crew for the department, something the county needs. The others would provide improved service for maintenance and coverage if an employee is absent.
"This is something that needs to be taken care of," Frasier said.
While the justices of the peace sent all of the requests on to the Finance Committee for consideration, some expressed concerns about circumventing the budget process.
Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, said she will support the requests made, but would rather see them as part of next year's budget.
"I really have some heartburn over all this midyear stuff," Anglin said.
Tom Leadabrand, justice of the peace for District 11, said he wondered if any of the requests made represented real emergency situations or if they could wait until the normal budget meetings in the fall.
"I am also concerned about all these midyear requests," he said. "If these were considered during the budget and not approved why are we here again? It comes back to bite us."
NW News on 06/22/2016