Polk County's "employee creep" is not sustainable, supervisors warned
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Polk County government added the equivalent of nearly 125 full-time positions over the last four years — a rate interim county administrator Frank Marasco told supervisors in a recent budget hearing is not sustainable.
Why it matters: Ongoing reduction efforts will affect the county's future hiring decisions, potentially affecting public services.
State of play: Polk's full-time staffing grew almost 9% since the fiscal year started in July 2021, from 1,417 to 1,541 full-time-equivalent positions, a measurement used to evaluate total workforce.
- Supervisor's Chairperson Matt McCoy tells Axios most of the growth is attributed to "administrative creep," which often goes unrecognized as positions are added.
- Of 18 county departments, only the recorder now has a smaller staff — 27 employees, down from 27.5.
Zoom in: Polk County Conservation grew the most, up more than 50% from just over the full-time equivalent of 72 employees to almost 110.
- Dozens of those positions are part-time or seasonal staffers associated with Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, which the county purchased in 2021.
State of play: Marasco is working with the county's human resources department to identify positions that can be eliminated through attrition, he told supervisors during a Feb. 25 budget workshop.
- The actions are necessary to avoid layoffs as the county's future budget gets tighter due to new limits to Iowa's property tax growth, he said.
The intrigue: Supervisors narrowly approved another executive assistant to the board on March 11, shortly after Marasco's presentation.
- The new position will be the fourth executive assistant for the five-member board of supervisors and will pay as much as $95,000 annually.
- Supervisors Tom Hockensmith and Angela Connolly voted against adding the position in the 3-2 vote.
What they're saying: McCoy tells Axios the new position will allow the county to improve a program that helps apply for and administer grants critical to the budget.
The other side: About a decade ago, Connolly tells Axios, supervisors had only two executive assistants. She says adding a fourth seems unnecessary.
What's next: Job reduction plans will be presented to supervisors during a work session in the coming months, Marasco said.