Johnson County to consider raises for elected officials at end of budget process

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors plans to consider raises for elected officials — except themselves — at the end of the Fiscal Year 2027 budgeting process.

The county’s compensation board, at its December meeting, recommended a 2.6 percent cost of living adjustment increase and no merit raises for the county’s elected officials, with the exception of 0.5 percent for the county auditor and attorney.

The board of supervisors is in the beginning stages of the budgeting process for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, and was set to review the compensation board’s recommendation for elected officials’ salaries at its work session Tuesday morning.

“When the compensation board made this recommendation, they didn't know exactly what our budget situation would be, and frankly, I'm not sure we do until we get a little farther into this,” Supervisor Rod Sullivan said at the work session.

The board, other elected officials and county department heads have hinted at budgetary pressures for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs July 1, 2026 through June 20, 2027.

“We don't think that any of us should be getting a larger raise than the non bargaining staff who work in our offices. … we are all budget conscious and want to be cooperative,” County Attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith said at the work session.

The board plans to continue work on the county budget, and return to the question of raises for elected officials near the end of the process.

While the board plans to reconsider the salaries of other elected officials, the supervisors have agreed they will not approve a pay increase for themselves. Each is currently paid $102,334 per year.

The county is set to hold public hearings on the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget on March 25 and April 15. The board will vote on the budget April 23.

Compensation board deviates from three-year plan

The compensation board, comprised of seven members appointed by the county’s elected officers, makes recommendations about pay increases for county elected officials to the board of supervisors, which has final decision making power.

Johnson County is not legally required to have a compensation board, after a state law dissolved them in 2024, but the supervisors reinstated the board.

The compensation board had been following a three-year plan that was set to end in Fiscal Year 2027, but its members chose to deviate from the plan due to upcoming budgetary pressures.

The three-year plan called for yearly cost of living adjustment increases based on Social Security Administration determinations, potential merit awards and other increases to account for changes in Iowa Code relating to sheriff’s salaries.

The compensation board’s recommended raises are as follows:

The board of supervisors has adopted the compensation board’s recommendations the past two years.

The compensation board also recommended considering the auditor’s compensation independent of the recorder’s and treasurer’s pay.

For years there’s been a conversation about increasing the auditor’s compensation on the basis that the responsibilities of the role exceed that of recorder and treasurer.

The recommended 0.5 percent increase for the auditor is an effort by the compensation board to show it supports decoupling moving forward.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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