Faribault County commissioners are in no rush to approve a new three-year employment contract with University of Minnesota Extension Service.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Christy Kallevig of the U of M Extension Service gave details of a proposal that increases the salary and benefits of the Extension Educator/4-H Youth Development Director by 24 percent next year.
“The job market has shifted and we need to make adjustments to make sure we can continue to pay Extension employees in order to provide the level of benefits, support and adequate salary they need,” she says.
Kallevig says Extension educator/directors in all of the state’s 87 counties will earn $100,000 a year, which includes salary, health insurance, travel expenses, sick leave and professional development.
This year the county paid $80,648 for a full-time educator/director and $5,917 for a summer intern.
Under the proposed agreement, the educator/director would be paid $100,000 next year, $103,000 in 2026 and $106,100 in 2027. The intern would earn $8,930 in 2025, $9,230 and $9,535 in the final two years of the contract.
Proposed changes in compensation was made with input from six outstate county commissioners.
Commissioner Greg Young says he was led to believe that all counties had to agree to the agreement until reading a letter in the Association of Minnesota Counties magazine.
Young says the dean in charge of U of M Extension wrote that counties can choose an option that fits their budget and priorities.
“In this part of the world $80,000 is a pretty decent wage,” he says. “If we don’t give her $100,000 you are going to cut our services and she will be a disgruntled employee. How do we approach that?”
Kallevig says no one has been promised an increase in compensation and all directors know that nothing is guaranteed at this time.
All commissioners agree that a “one price fits all” solution is not the answer and right approach to take.
“This is structurally not benefiting the rural counties. It is benefiting suburban and other areas that have a good tax base and prosperity,” says Commissioner Tom Loveall. “We are subsiding into it, that’s my concern. I am just using logic.”
Commissioner Bruce Anderson, who serves on the Extension Committee, says the proposal was discussed “heavily” at their last meeting and there was talk of returning to a .75 full-time employee.
Commissioner John Roper says “one price that fits all” is not the way to solve the problem.
“One price for everyone is not logical down here,” says Roper. “I don’t think the same price for every county works.”
Kallevig assured board members she will take their concerns back to Extension officials at the state level.
“The price can be adjusted, but so does the level of service,” she says. “We can negotiate, how we can make adjustments to the level of service and the price, and the intern expense that was included.”