Linn County board recommends 7 percent raises for elected officials

CEDAR RAPIDS — While Linn County faces spending cuts as the impacts of tax reform upend its budget, the panel that recommends pay rates for certain elected officials last week suggested bumping salaries 7 percent across the board — higher than the 4 percent increases the Board of Supervisors plans to award.

The Linn County Compensation Board, which met Jan. 22, makes its recommendation to the county supervisors, who can OK the recommendations or decrease all of them by the same amount. The supervisors also can lower their own pay independent of the other elected officials’ salaries.

In their pitches for a raise in fiscal 2025 several elected officials shared struggles to attract and retain qualified talent and to compete with private sector pay. But most asked for more conservative raises than in the past, acknowledging the fiscal woes facing the county.

Finance Director Dawn Jindrich told the board that county departments were advised to craft budgets assuming no growth, largely because of impacts of state legislative tax reform.

As of the Jan. 22 meeting, the county was still exploring spending cuts that could be made. The supervisors had budgeted 3 percent raises for all officials, Supervisor Chair Kirsten Running-Marquardt said, but there are “significant cuts that have to be made with that” in the current budget proposal. The supervisors did not ask for a specific pay increase for themselves.

“The Board of Supervisors has some tough decisions to make for the entire Linn County budget,” Running-Marquardt said.

Currently, the officials are paid salaries of:

Treasurer Brent Oleson asked for 10 percent increase for the treasurer’s office, where four deputies’ salaries are tied to his. Given inflation, he said he believes this is “equitable and responsible.”

Compensation board member Brett Mason said, “if we were to do that, it’s going to cut into other operations of the county.”

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner again hinged his pitch for a raise in part on the state’s Back the Blue law, which requires the compensation board to recommend sheriffs be paid comparable to salaries of officers of the state patrol, the Division of Criminal Investigation, and city police chiefs employed by cities of similar population to the county.

In Gardner’s case, his comparable figure is the Cedar Rapids police chief. Assuming former Chief Wayne Jerman’s pay would have increased 3 percent if he hadn’t retired, Gardner said he should be awarded a 5.04 percent bump in his salary to compete.

Gardner, who has 11 deputies’ salaries tied to his pay and runs a $30 million law enforcement operation, suggested the board recommend a raise that’s the same amount for all.

County Attorney Nick Maybanks said the American Bar Association advises salaries should compete with private sector pay to attract and retain talent.

When Maybanks took over in 2022, he said his office saw an increase in felony crime and each felony attorney was averaging more than 200 cases per year. That load is now down to 170, which he said still is above the national average.

“Unfortunately, of some of the things that Supervisor Running-Marquardt talked about, the county is limited in their ability to be able to fund our positions, which we understand,” Maybanks said. “But we’ve continued to work to meet our needs the best we can and to get the job done beyond the call of duty even though we’ve been drastically understaffed in this office.”

He asked for a 5.5 percent increase in line with the raise unionized assistant county attorneys have negotiated.

Auditor Joel Miller said Iowa’s county auditors are unique and should not be treated the same as the recorder, treasurer and supervisors. Currently, three deputies’ salaries are tied to his.

In 2021, state lawmakers passed penalties for county auditors who break laws or administrative rules, including fines and possible referral to the Iowa Attorney General for investigation.

Miller said the state-imposed penalties are the reason none of his deputies want to run for office to succeed him as auditor when he retires after his term ends in January 2025. So far, only state Sen. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, has launched a bid for his seat.

Miller asked the panel for a pay bump between 5 and 10 percent “to give these deputies a really good reason to stay when I depart in January 2025. Whoever comes in is going to need their expertise. They need an incentive to stay here and run the office.”

Recorder Carolyn Siebrecht asked for a 7.8 percent raise for herself and the three deputies whose salaries are tied to hers.

“I do understand that the budgeting for Linn County is more difficult this year than it was last year given some of the constraints for property taxes and rollbacks,” Siebrecht said.

In a public budget review session Jan. 26, supervisors planned to approve raises below the compensation board’s recommendation, but they will take a future vote solely on these recommendations at a later date.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com