County employees seek bump in longevity pay

With a petition signed by nearly all Fulton County employees, the county council and commissioners are being asked to consider increasing longevity pay to address employee retention and provide more adequate compensation compared with surrounding counties. 

Fulton County Commissioners on Tuesday heard a proposal to increase the county's longevity pay scale to address an overarching problem of employee retention. 

The proposal was presented by Highway Superintendent John Geier, who noted a petition has been circulating among county employees asking the council and commissioners to reconsider longevity pay. Nearly all of the county's 126 employees have signed the petition. 

Of those 126 employees, Geier noted more than half of them have been employed by the county for less than five years. 

"You have a huge rate of turnover in the county," he told commissioners before suggesting that a new tiered structure be adopted for longevity pay.

The petition and proposal come on the heels of the city of Rochester increasing its pay scale for longevity. Effective Jan. 1, all full-time employees of the city will receive modified longevity pay in addition to their regular salary. After three years, employees receive $1,000. Longevity pay increases to $2,500 after five years, $5,000 after 10, $7,500 after 15 and finally to a maximum of $10,000 with 20 years of service. 

Geier's proposal to the county was more modest, but a significant increase over what's currently paid out by the county for longevity. As it stands, county employees receive a $200 longevity bonus if employed on Nov. 15 of their sixth year with the county. The bonus increases to $300, the maximum offered, if they're employed on the same date of their 11th year with the county.

Geier noted the county's current pay scale for longevity falls short of the average among 19 surrounding counties. Those counties vary on tier schedules, he added, with some yearly and others on 5-year increments. 

The proposal calls for county employees with five years of service to receive a $500 longevity bonus – $1,000 after 10 years, $1,500 after 15 years and $2,000 after 20 years. 

The change would amount to $38,511 more than budgeted by the county council for longevity pay in 2025. 

"The council for this year budgeted $31,000 for longevity. In 2024, they only had to spend $14,114 of that budgeted money, so they're not even spending half of what they budget for this," Geier said. 

He additionally noted that having to train new employees to replace ones leaving for better compensation elsewhere is costly and time consuming. 

"I know for myself out there it takes several years to get an employee acclimated to paving, plowing snow efficiently, and to train someone year after year is a hassle, and it costs a lot of money," he said.

Geier couldn't provide the exact cost associated with having to replace employees of various county departments, but noted its likely more than the proposal's total payout of roughly $75,000.

"I've been here 25, 26 years, and I don't believe it's ever been discussed in that time," Geier said of the county's longevity pay. "We're just kind of basically asking for the average of our surrounding area."

In a unanimous vote, commissioners gave Geier their blessing to take the matter before the county council Wednesday.