Compensation boards say to raise officials’ pay

CEDAR RAPIDS - Compensation boards in Linn and Johnson counties are recommending pay increases for supervisors and other elected officials in both counties that are slightly larger than those approved last year.

Johnson County's compensation board recommended a 4.5 percent increase, plus $2,500 more per year, for all county elected officials. The board recommended an additional 1.5 percent increase for the Board of Supervisors.

Johnson County supervisors currently earn about $60,000 a year. Butt last year, the board began a five-year process to increase supervisors' pay to be 75 percent of the county auditor, recorder and treasurer salaries. If approved for the next four years, supervisors will earn more than $70,000 annually by 2020.

At Tuesday's budget work session, all four supervisors said they would likely approve the recommended raise, although Supervisor Rod Sullivan specifically noted having reservations.

Sullivan said he doesn't like the idea of approving such a large raise, but said the increase, which would amount to about $50,000, won't have a huge impact on the county's roughly $100 million budget.

'There are thousands of decisions that go into a budget and you win some and you lose some and I'll consider this me losing one,” Sullivan said. 'I'm not going to hold a budget hostage over a $50,000 decision because I don't think that's the way to play the game.”

Supervisor Pat Harney noted the reason for the larger increase is because the board had rejected several other recommended increases in past years.

'I think that's part of the reason we're in the position that we're in,” he said.

Linn County's compensation board Tuesday recommended a 3.5 percent increase in annual pay for county attorney and sheriff and a 3 percent increase for supervisors and other officials like auditor, recorder and treasurer - despite a request from the Auditor Joel Miller to not receive a raise.

Miller argues the county's elected officials, who earn a little more than $103,000 a year, do not need the raise.

'I just feel like we're going to be perceived as being very greedy people, we're all making over $100,000 a year,” he said Wednesday.

Miller noted that state officials - including the state treasurer, auditor of the state and lieutenant governor - make basically the same wage as Linn County officials.

'I just don't think it's right for a county official in Linn County to be making more than a statewide official. There's something wrong with that, I believe,” he said.

The Linn supervisors made headlines last year when they approved - on a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Brent Oleson and Ben Rogers opposed - a 2 percent increase that put their salaries above six figures.

In both counties, a seven-member county compensation board has two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one each appointed by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, sheriff and treasurer.

Supervisors ultimately vote on the compensation board recommendation while finalizing the budget in the coming weeks, but pay rates for elected officials cannot increase beyond the recommendation. They can only be accepted, reduced or rejected.