Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford once wrote "The best things in life are free, But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees, Now give me money."

Utah County employees might agree.

The Utah County Commission began working on a proposal to give county employees a 12 percent pay bump, in an effort to keep them. The discussion, though only in its preliminary stages, would allow county employees flexibility in how they are compensated. Under the proposal, they could take their retirement plans -- 401a or 457 -- and shift that money into direct compensation. 401a plans are retirement plans very similar to 401k plans; however, they are for certain government or public school employees. Similarly, 457 plans deal with governmental employee retirement.

The proposed policy would also add several new pay grade steps in the system.

The commissioners said that the change in compensation would not be overly costly to the county.

Commissioner Steve White said that the impetus of the proposal was a "hemorrhaging of people leaving the county because of low wages."

Commissioner Gary Anderson said the problem stemmed from how compensation packages were distributed. The total compensation, he said, includes wages, benefits, retirement and pension programs. The 401a, he said, takes up a significant percentage of the compensation that employees earn, thereby driving their wages down.

Anderson said that the total compensation package is as large as other government entities.

White explained that if employees took the money out of their 401a and applied it to their regular salaries, not only would their paychecks grow, but it would serve to raise their pensions as well. This, he said, is because pensions are calculated from an employee's wage.

White termed the plan the "employee empowerment program" because it would enable people to deal with "life circumstances." Under the plan, employees would be able to redirect their compensation back and forth from a retirement plan to their salary, effective the following month.

Anderson said that the commission started looking seriously at revamping the pay policy after experiencing serious problems with dispatchers leaving the county's employ. "The days of Utah County employees getting dumped on are over," he said.

White said the idea has been around for some time; however, it is only now that there has been the support on the commission needed to get it passed. White said he would like to revamp the whole pay policy.

While the plan promises to make wages more competitive with other counties, Anderson noted that this program will not solve all of the pay problems in the county.

"This is a first step," he said.

The commission expects to work on the proposal for three to six months before making a decision.

Nathan Johnson can be reached at 344-2543 or njohnson@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.