By Michelle Ye Hee Lee | The Arizona Republic
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a detailed plan to give $58 million in raises to its employees.
The county is one of the Valley’s largest employers, with a workforce of about 13,000. The board action ends a freeze of nearly six years on merit-based pay increases as the county struggled with decreasing tax revenues resulting from the economic downturn.
The wage freeze in those years created internal pay inequities, increased employee turnover and triggered ongoing struggles to recruit and retain employees with key responsibilities whose positions have cost the county more to temporarily fill with contracted experts.
