Legislature revives supervisor pay issue

DES MOINES - A bill offered by Linn County legislators to allow boards of supervisors to cut their pay without affecting other county officials gained a second life in the Legislature's catch-all standings bill.

House File 217 would have allowed supervisors to decrease their own salaries regardless of the recommendation from the county compensation board that recommends salary adjustments. Under current law, the supervisors have the option of reducing the recommended raise for themselves but that decision applies equally to all county elected officials.

But the bill never made it out of the House Government Committee. However, its language was included in the $2.7 billion standings bill.

"Bottom line, this gives the supervisors the tools they need to deal with this," House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said. He co-sponsored the bill with Linn County Republicans Nick Wagner of Marion and Renee Schulte of Cedar Rapids as well as Democratic Reps. Tyler Olson, Todd Taylor and Dick Taylor all of Cedar Rapids.

Lawmakers were prompted to act because of controversy over supervisors' salaries in Linn County. Many voters assumed that when they approved expanding the Linn County board from three members to five, the three supervisors' salaries would be split five ways.

The Compensation Board recommended that all Linn County elected officials' salaries be increased by 6 percent, a raise that would put supervisor salaries at $89,522.