Linn auditor and supervisors unlikely to see raises

CEDAR RAPIDS - The board that recommends wage increases for Linn County elected officials on Thursday recommended raises for four officials but no raises for county supervisors and the county auditor - at their request.

The Linn County Compensation Board recommendation goes to the Board of Supervisors, which can accept or reject the recommendation but cannot raise it.

The compensation board recommended 3 percent wage increases for the county attorney, sheriff, recorder and treasurer.

Supervisor Brent Oleson cited November's election, which saw the public vote to reduce the number of Linn County supervisors from five to three in 2019, as a reason for the request for no pay increase.

'That campaign was largely over the salary issue and its handling in the past,” Oleson said. 'The Board of Supervisors, by majority consensus, would be asking for a zero percent raise to take this year to assess for the next year.”

Auditor Joel Miller said he vetted his request for no raise with his staff and said it was due in part to the current level of county wages.

The supervisors and the county auditor, treasurer and recorder make more than $103,000 a year.

'We're making more than statewide officials,” Miller said. 'I'm not asking for anything. I think we need to send the message.”

Officials with the other county offices cited workloads, departmental responsibilities and employee retention as reasons for asking for a 3 percent wage increases. The raises for top assistants in those offices is tied to the raise their bosses get.

The seven-member county compensation board includes two members appointed by the Board of Supervisors and one each by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, sheriff and treasurer.

Johnson county

The Johnson County Compensation Board is recommending wage increases consistent with the county's ongoing five-year plan to bring the part-time supervisors' pay to 75 percent of the county auditor, recorder and treasurer salaries.

The board on Wednesday recommended a 3.98 percent wage increase - or $2,500 - for all elected officials. The board also recommended an additional 1.5 percent wage increase for supervisors.

Under the county's plan, supervisors will earn more than $70,000 annually by 2020.

A bill working its way through the Statehouse aims to abolish the use of compensation boards.

Supporters of the bill, like state Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, argue the boards takes away supervisor accountability on wage increases and has led to 'exorbitant raises” in local government.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com