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Dickinson County Supervisors Hold First Meeting Of 2025

January 02, 2025 Steve Schwaller

(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors held their first meeting of the new year this (Thurs.) morning, with the oath of office being administered to newly elected officials, including newly elected supervisors Steve Dullard and Levi Markwardt. Appointments to boards and commissions were also made, with split votes on several of them, including some for the Board of Adjustment, the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Health.

Attention then turned toward salaries for the coming year. Supervisor Kim Wermersen made a motion for a 3.5 percent increase for elected officials recommended by the county’s Compensation Board…

“I attended that meeting and there were recommendations everywhere from basically 3.5 to 20 percent for the Sheriff. We also attended the district supervisor meeting which was down in Cherokee where, gosh, there had to be 20 counties present, and their rate increases that they were talking were three to four percent. I also looked at the SHRM which is the HR organization along with employer groups.”

The motion passed on a 3-2 vote with Supervisors Steve Dullard and Levi Markwardt voting no. Markwardt proposed scaling back the increases…

“I’m not suggesting that anyone is doing a bad job when I say this and I’m not saying anybody doesn’t deserve a raise. Again I don’t what their job is or what it entails. I’m just saying that when I look at the reports that I have been shown, we need to balance our budget. My experience as a business owner is vastly different than what the county does, and I’m not trying to compare the two, but I know that I must operate with my business within a budget.”

A 16 percent increase for the Sheriff through the Back The Blue initiative was included in the motion. Another motion for a 3.5 percent salary increase for non-elected officials also passed on a split vote, with Dullard and Markwardt voting no.

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