Pennington County is talking about hiring the same consultant Rapid City has used to study how the county's salary scale and job descriptions compare to those in other cities and counties.

Rapid City has been using Georgia-based Condrey and Associates for the past six years to analyze the city's pay scale compared with other public and private organizations. To be competitive in hiring new employees, the city has steadily increased its pay matrix across the board the past several years because of the study.

County Commissioner Nancy Trautman believes the county could benefit from a salary study and a staffing level comparison as a tool to be used for future planning. Currently, the county doesn't know if its job classifications and salaries are correct or adequate, she said.

"We don't know if we have the right staff to accomplish what we need to. We don't really have a base," Trautman said. "It'll cost us money, of course, to get the base established. But in planning in any business, you have to start somewhere."

Trautman does not rule out seeking proposals from several potential consultants, but she received permission from the county commission this week to contact Condrey for more information about how the process would work and how much the firm's services might cost.

However, she said because Condrey is familiar with the area and has compiled data in working with the city, Trautman thinks the firm might be a good fit.

"Sometimes it's good to bring in an objective viewpoint and have them review it and look at how we're handling it so we know we're doing a good job or need to make changes," she said.

Commissioner Jim Kjerstad said that before the commission decides to do a study, it will be important to get input about the idea from the county's department heads.

"They would be a critical point for this whole process," he said.

A wage and staffing study also could help the county do a better job with long-range planning, especially building needs, according to Trautman.

The county has talked in the past about several building projects on the horizon, including completing two floors in the jail annex; building a new office building to house county offices being crowded out of the courthouse by growing court services; courthouse renovations to accommodate court services; and fairgrounds improvements.

"If you have an idea of what you have and what the future looks like for staffing, you can more effectively plan your building needs," Trautman said.

No timetable was set this week, but Trautman will contact Condrey and report back to the commission in the near future.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com