(Spirit Lake)– Salaries of county employees took center stage this (Thurs.) afternoon at a special meeting of the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors.
There was lengthy discussion on what to do about the Compensation Board’s recommendation for elected officials. Most of the discussion revolved around a recommended increase of 9.6 percent for the County Attorney compared to the three percent that was recommended for other elected department heads and two percent for the board of supervisors.
County Attorney Rosalise Olsen told the supervisors she had originally requested only a three percent increase and would not accept the higher amount recommended by the Comp. Board. The supervisors could have opted to trim Olsen’s salary to match the three percent recommended for other elected office holders, but under Iowa Code they would have been required to lower those recommendations by the same amount. Olsen produced a legal opinion stating that an official could lower a salary on their own. But the validity of the 1934 opinion is being questioned since it was written prior to the establishment of County Compensation Boards in Iowa.
After further discussion, the supervisors voted three-to-two to accept the Compensation Board’s recommended increases. Supervisors Pam Jordan and Paul Johnson voted no. Johnson said he had a problem with the Compensation Board singling out one department for a larger increase from the others. In light of a 23 percent increase in the county’s health insurance in the upcoming year, Johnson said he’d rather see a freeze on employee wages with the county picking up some of that added cost in exchange.
In voting to accept the Comp. Board’s recommendations Supervisor Wayne Northey said he had heard no comments from the public thinking the recommended increases were excessive. Northey added he doesn’t feel comfortable asking county employees to bear the burden of budget actions the supervisors have taken in the past year…referring in part to expenses associated with the courthouse project.
Discussion then turned to pay for non-elected county employees. After even more discussion, the board unanimously approved a three percent across-the-board pay increase to be proportioned at the discretion of department heads.
Salaries for another group of county employees–deputies, jailers and dispatchers in the Sheriff’s Office–remain uncertain. KUOO news has learned negotiations between the county and the union that represents those workers are at an impasse.
