By Echo Menges
SCOTLAND COUNTY, Mo. – The Scotland County Commission is facing challenges in filling open positions on the county’s Road and Bridge crew, a shortage that is delaying key projects.
“We’re short two or three people at least,” said Presiding Commissioner Duane Ebeling.
The commission is concerned that upcoming retirements could worsen the situation. Officials also acknowledged that the county is losing staff to higher-paying jobs in the area.
The starting wage for a Road and Bridge crew member is $16.31 per hour, with the highest-paid members earning $20.19 per hour, according to the commission.
“We’ve increased wages by an average of 8.45 percent annually since 2021. For 2020, it was a little more,” said Western Commissioner David Wiggins.
Despite the recent wage increases, the county continues to struggle with both retention and attracting new workers.
“Road and Bridge employees are making what our elected officials make,” Wiggins added. “They earn more with overtime.”
The commission attributes the staffing shortages to a combination of factors, including a decrease in assessed property valuation, which is driving down tax revenue, and rising employer costs such as unemployment insurance. These challenges, the commissioners said, make it difficult for the county to offer more competitive pay.
“We used to be the eighth-lowest in assessed valuation, and now we’re the fourth,” Wiggins said. “We aren’t growing.”
“We’re $22 or $23 million less than Knox County,” said Eastern Commissioner Brent Rockhold, comparing Scotland County’s assessed valuation to that of neighboring Knox County.
Knox County has a population of about 3,800 people, compared to Scotland County’s larger population of approximately 4,600.
The commission does not foresee an end to the staffing shortages affecting the Road and Bridge crew, and they warn the situation could worsen with looming retirements and continued losses to higher-paying jobs elsewhere.
