Jake,
Montana DNRC does not assist CD's with their hiring/recruitment outside of providing Districts with Model Personnel Policies that they may modify or adopt as-is. We also have some appropriation from the state that goes toward staff wage. We have seen an uptick in attrition. Some of this can be attributed to a generational (Baby Boomer) bubble reaching the end of the careers. However, recruitment and retention of mid-career staff for CD's continues to be problematic and has also increased. Many CD staff are finding opportunities with better wage and benefits as a result of local labor shortages. I am scrounging my budget to load up the administrative support grant for Districts to raise the floor of CD administrative grants to $40/k per year for personal services and operations. With CD operations subtracted ($6k - $8k, bare bones), that would allow each Districts to have ~$32k - $34k available for their (single Staff) compensation packages. Clearly, not a competitive, living wage in today's labor market.
M -