Morgan County gets first administrator in 15 years
Jan 25, 2024 09:44AM ● By Linda Petersen
Morgan County has hired a new administrator on a 90-day trial basis. Kate Becker began work on Jan. 16. Becker is the first administrator the county has had in more than 15 years, according to County Commission Chair Mike Newton.
“We've grown to a point where there's some need to coordinate a lot of things within the office,” Newton said. “So where all of the county commissioners are part-time, we’re not in the in the offices except for meetings and other things. So there's a need for someone to help coordinate things within the office and run the day-to-day operations of the county.”
The county’s 90-day contract with Becker (DBA County Support, LLC) is for $16,500 per month and was ratified in the Jan. 16 commission meeting.
“It is fairly expensive but as a contract, it's typically a lot more expensive than a salary would be,” Newton said. “Actually salary would be less, but then you've also got a lot of other costs in addition to salary: insurance and retirement benefits, etc.”
The contract was previously approved by commission members in an email discussion, Newton told the Morgan County News.
Morgan County began advertising for the position in October and received more than 40 applications, he said. The county commission narrowed the candidates down to six to eight who were interviewed. Becker was among the final six. In contract negotiations with Becker, commission members decided they would like a 90-day trial and she was amenable to the suggestion.
“Kate was the top applicant,” Newton said. “We actually went back and forth on a job offer and part of that job offer was that there would be a 90-day trial period.”
If Becker performs well, it is likely the county commission will offer her the position on a permanent basis and negotiate a salary/benefits package to go along with it, Newton said.
“And if not, we will likely let the contract expire and look for a different administrative manager,” he said
Becker previously worked as a certified fraud examiner with the Cache County Clerk and Auditor’s office and as an auditor for federal, state, and county agencies across the country. λ
