County Council addresses several items in 2025 county budget

The Pulaski County Council made some final decisions on some of the items proposed for the 2025 budget during a special session on Tuesday morning, Oct. 1. This was a continuation of their conversation originally held at a regular meeting on Sept. 9. President Ken Boswell started the special session with the human resources position discussion. Councilwoman Sheila Hazemi-Jimenez said she reached out to HR directors from Cass and White counties to get more information on what their roles and responsibilities are. Councilwoman Jimenez said that originally she had asked for an HR director, but upon speaking with Cass and White County, she said she thinks Pulaski County may be better suited to have an HR coordinator, which would bring the wage down in the matrix to $59,168. She said that the total budget for the human resources person would be roughly $146,000. Included in that amount would be moving a payroll deputy out of the auditor's office and into the HR department.