HERMANN — Gasconade County government employees are being asked if they want more money now or more money later.

At issue is whether more county funds are put toward a little larger paycheck while they are working or a little larger retirement benefit after they stop clocking in every day.

County government employees are members of two retirement programs — CERF (County Employee Retirement Fund) and LAGERS (Local Government Employee Retirement System). LAGERS also covers municipal government employees. CERF is a mandatory program while LAGERS is voluntary.

The issue of a little larger annual pay raise or a little larger contribution to the retirement fund arose in recent weeks as county administrators prepared for a review of the retirement programs. The County Commission has until later in the year to make a decision on which direction to go. Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte, R-Hermann, said he is interested in learning what county employees prefer.

“I would be interested in a straw poll,” he said.

Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann, said he wants to see where the county is standing financially before committing to increased investments in either a pay raise or putting more money into LAGERS.

“I don’t want to make any promises … until I know what the budget is,” Holland said. “I think we should look at it at budget time.”

The county’s budget process begins in November with much of the number-crunching being done in December by the County Clerk’s Office. County Clerk Lesa Lietzow is the county’s chief budget officer and her office will be matching the various departments’ funding requests with projected revenue figures in preparing a spending blueprint for 2024. The Commission has until the end of January to adopt a new operating budget.

County government employees received a significant pay raise at the start of this year, Lietzow noted.

“This year was probably the best year you’ve ever done,” she told the county administrative panel, regarding the amount of pay raise.

County government workers are paid about $15 an hour on average.

But before the Commission begins discussing specific amounts, a better picture of county finances will be needed, officials said. Lietzow said a “strong sense of finances” should be available by the time the county’s Salary Commission meets in November. The Salary Commission, which is grounded in state law, meets every odd-numbered year to consider pay raises for elected officials. Any increases granted for the offices would become available for the people elected, or re-elected, at the next year’s election.

Lietzow said at last week’s Commission session that county workers are being surveyed on the pay raise-or-retirement benefit question.

Meanwhile, County Treasurer Mike Feagan recently told the Commission that another $9,000 has been received as part of the sweeping settlement of the opioid lawsuits that local governments across the country were pursuing against manufacturers and distributors of highly addictive narcotics.

So far, Gasconade County has received between $60,000 and $70,000, Feagan said. The money is dedicated to a fund administered by Prosecuting Attorney Mary Weston, who has been crafting a plan regarding education and treatment programs aimed at combating the opioid addiction epidemic, a national crisis that fell out of the spotlight during the COVID pandemic. As the worst of the COVID crisis has waned, opioid addiction is returning to the forefront as a major issue for state and local governments.