A change in benefits for new employees is designed to help Gregg County recruit employees.

Commissioners on Thursday approved a change that gives new employees earlier access to medical and dental insurance.

Dawn Brinson of Brinson Benefits explained that her company worked with the county's benefits committee to bring recommendations for two changes to  commissioners.

"This particular recommendation is our effort to help with recruiting for new hires to the county," Brinson said. "In any given year we're filling about 100 to 120 positions here."

The county has 70 open positions, she said.

The 60-day waiting period sometimes meant people actually weren't eligible for benefits for almost 90 days.

If the county hires 100 people in a year, the cost to the county would be about $90,000 a year, Brinson said.

Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt supported the change, which was unanimously approved by commissioners.

"This year, we've been trying to address the pay and other benefits to employees to be competitive," he said. "This is just another move to be competitive in the marketplace."

Pct. 3 Commissioner Floyd Wingo said he believes in the "recruitment value" of the change, saying one of the most common questions applicants ask is about when their benefits begin.

Commissioners on Thursday also approved a benefits change that makes it possible for employees to sometimes pay nothing for prescriptions. The incentive they approved gives employees a discount of $10 on prescriptions that are filled at locally owned independent pharmacies in Gregg County. Brinson said her company has identified nine such pharmacies.

The county's prescription plan has four tiers with co-pays that range from $10 to $100, which means that employees might sometimes avoid a co-pay with the new benefit. Brinson estimates the change would cost the county about $30,000 a year, based on an estimate that about 20% of prescriptions would be filled at qualifying pharmacies.

In other business Thursday, in a vote to renew the annual lease agreement for the space the veterans service office occupies at 1204-A East Marshall Ave., county officials discussed what would happen when a new parking garage that will include county office space is completed. The veterans office will relocate to that office space.

Voters in November approved a debt proposal that will allow the county to borrow up to $19 million to build the new parking garage on property the county already owns across from the courthouse in downtown Longview. Stout had said he expects the county will provide $10 million in cash to the project, which would means the county wouldn't haven't to borrow the whole $19 million.

Stoudt said after Thursday's meeting that the contractor, Houston-based SpawGlass, is working on finalizing the cost of the parking garage. He expects that final cost would be ready in February or March, at which point the county would determine how much debt it would actually need to issue for the parking garage. Construction could start in April, and the county has said it will take about 18 months to complete.

Stoudt warned that the project will disrupt traffic in downtown, considering construction and staging of supplies and equipment. He said the county is working with the city of Longview on those details.