Editor’s note – The original post included an incorrect figure for the attorney’s salary. That number has been corrected.
Greene County elected officials were true to the conservative fiscal attitudes with which they approach county funds when the compensation board met Jan. 3. The compensation board, which meets each year to recommend salary increases for county elected officials, considered a 9 percent increase for all officials except the sheriff.
Supervisors board chair John Muir, auditor Jane Heun, and treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen all cautioned against that large of an increase. The compensation board then approved recommending a 6.5 percent increase for each of the supervisors, the auditor, treasurer and recorder, and a 13.5 percent increase for the sheriff.
Members of the compensation board are appointed by the various elected officials. Members are Mary Jane Fields and Jim Unger, representing the supervisors, Tom Heater representing the county attorney, Tim Heisterkamp representing the county treasurer, Adam Pedersen representing the county recorder, Guy Richardson representing the auditor, and John McCormick representing the sheriff. Richardson was not at the meeting.
Fields was elected to serve as chair for the meeting.
Before Fields spoke, Muir told the compensation board they’ve met their goal of setting salaries that are in the middle of salary ranges for elected officials in counties of similar populations. He said their salaries “are in a good place with the state and the local economy.”
“Last year we did a good bump (in salary) for everybody to try and stay ahead of the curve in the economy…. I’ve had several other elected officials tell me that’s not sustainable at that level. We’ve got to look down the road at what’s sustainable. Some of those numbers from last year aren’t going to be,” Muir said.
Last year’s recommendation was for a 15 percent increase for the sheriff and attorney, 10 percent increases for the auditor and treasurer, and 8 percent for the recorder and the supervisors. The supervisors approved those raises except for their own, which they reduced to 7 percent.
The large increase for the sheriff was in response to Senate File 342, passed by the Iowa legislature in 2021 and referred to as the “Back the Blue” law. It requires that county compensation boards set the sheriff’s salary to be comparable to salaries paid to command officers of the Iowa State Patrol and the DCI, and to city police chiefs employed by cities of similar population to the population of the county.
The sheriff’s salary increase was a step toward that parity. It was understood at the time the sheriff would receive a double-digit increase this year, as well.
During the discussion, Fields suggested a 9 percent increase for all officials except the sheriff, and said she had calculated the difference between giving them each a 5 percent increase and a 9 percent increase as“only” $35,000. “We have to stay current with our local, state and national economy,” she said.
Unger mentioned the 8.7 percent increase in the Social Security benefit this year, and reminded fellow board members that “inflation doesn’t go away… It’s real and we have to deal with it.”
Heisterkamp asked auditor Heun and treasurer Mechaelsen if an 8.7 percent increase made them nervous. Both replied that it did, and Heun went on to mention that increases are passed on to other employees.
Muir agreed, saying that it’s difficult to award other county employees less of a raise than the elected officials receive.
Heisterkamp proposed a 5 percent raise for all except the sheriff. Unger countered with 7 percent. Pedersen struck the compromise at 6.5 percent for all except the sheriff, and 13.5 percent for the sheriff. Pedersen made a motion that was approved unanimously.
If the supervisors approve the compensation board’s recommendation, salaries would increase as follows: attorney from $123,100 to $131,101; auditor from $73,141 to $77,895; recorder from $69,555 to $74,076; sheriff from $97,067 to $110,171; treasurer from $70,702 to $75,297; and supervisors from $32,537 (each) to $34,652.
When acting on the compensation board’s recommendation, the supervisors can consider their own salary separately but can only decrease it, not increase it. If they change any of the other increases, they must change every one by the same percentage.
