The Carroll County Board of Supervisors have approved salary increases for elected officials at 54 percent of what the Carroll County Compensation Board originally recommended at their Dec. 7 meeting. The Compensation Board initially suggested a 28-percent increase for the Sheriff, 22 percent for Auditor, 20 percent for County Attorney, 18 percent for Recorder, and 12 percent for Treasurer and Supervisors. Rich Ruggles, explains the large increase for the Sheriff is a result of the Back the Blue law passed by the Iowa Legislature last year that requires they receive compensation comparable to similar law enforcement positions. Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
Chairwoman, Stephanie Hausman, points out most people in the private sector also did not receive double-digit percentage increases with the new year. Gene Meiners opened discussion with a motion suggesting a 50-percent reduction to the original recommendation. Dean Schettler says this feels like a fair place to start.
The supervisors can adjust the recommendations, but they must be cut or increased by the same rate for elected officials. Johnson says the county has been working for years to get the Sheriff’s salary to a fair level, so anything less than 75 percent of the original recommendation would be too low.
The first motion for a 50-percent reduction from the recommendation failed two votes to three. More than a half-dozen additional motions, including reductions of as much as 49 percent to as little as 25 percent, failed to pass or died due to lack of a second. The supervisors considered adding a stipend to the Sheriff’s salary, but they determined this was not an option, as stipends must come from the Compensation Board. The chief barrier to reaching an agreement was how to justify such a large increase to one office compared to the county’s non-elected employees. Ruggles, says the legislature created this problem by trying to influence county budgets.
A motion for a 46-percent reduction from the recommendation was eventually approved on a three-to-two vote with Hausman and Johnson opposed. The board then quickly came to an agreement on non-union/non-elected employee salaries by unanimously approving a 5.5-percent increase. Union employee salary adjustments will be determined at a future meeting.