Supervisors set to approve lower raises for Johnson County elected officials
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is accepting low pay raises for 10 elected officials, hoping to match or be below the 2.5% raises proposed for bargaining and unionized employees.
The board decided informally Wednesday that it will increase the salaries for the county attorney by 2.5%, the sheriff's by 1.875%, and the five supervisors, county recorder, treasurer and auditor by 1.5625%. The decision came down to three of the five supervisors wanting to keep elected official raises below the raises of unionized employees, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Here's how the salaries for the 10 elected officials break down under these new recommendations compared to the current fiscal year:
Attorney: $167,273 to $171,455
Sheriff: $170,113 to $173,303
Auditor: $121,361 to $123,257
Recorder: $121,361 to $123,257
Treasurer: $121,361 to $123,257
Supervisor: $89,129 to $90,522
The board lowered these raises from much higher recommendations given to them by the county compensation board. The supervisors are able to lower the compensation board recommendations but those recommendations are the ceiling.
The recommendations from the compensation board this year were between 10% for all elected officials but the sheriff and attorney; 12% for the sheriff and 16% for the county attorney. If these were followed, supervisors would have been paid the least at $98,042 in a year while first-year county attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith would inch closer to a $200,000 salary at $194,036, making her the highest paid elected official in the county, surpassing Sheriff Brad Kunkel.
Ryan From, the chair of the compensation board and representative for Kunkel, said when the board met on Dec. 21 they looked at inflationary costs and cost of living increases, in addition to adding a raise beyond those adjustments. He said the board agreed that a 6.7% raise was needed at the minimum due to these factors.
Last year the compensation board recommended a blanket 18% raise for all 10 elected officials, but that was lowered to a 2.25% raise for the five supervisors and 4.42% for all other elected officials after intense debate on the board. Under Iowa's 2021 "Back the Blue" law, Johnson County and Iowa's other 98 counties were required to give much higher raises to county sheriffs to match salaries of city police chiefs with comparable populations.
From said the county attorney was a higher recommendation because it is believed the county misinterpreted rules around a salary cap compared to judges in previous years and wanted to get the position more in line with other county attorneys. He said the Back the Blue law impacted the sheriff's salary again this year and they needed to give him a higher raise to meet state law.
The board debated between proposals made by Chair Lisa Green-Douglass and Vice Chair Rod Sullivan. Green-Douglass called for the recommendation to be cut to one-fourth, while Sullivan focused on making sure no elected official got a larger raise than the county's unionized employees.
"It's the same thing I say every time, but I'm opposed to people getting above what the bargaining unit is getting unless someone can show their pay is way below what it ought to be," he said.
Sullivan suggested the supervisors should consider a pay cut for themselves, mentioning how the work of the board is now supplemented by a board office with 16 employees, compared to when he was first elected in 2004 and there were only two or three employees.
Supervisor Jon Green sided with Sullivan on his proposed increase and Supervisor Royceann Porter sided with Green-Douglass, with the decision ultimately resting with Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, who is only in their second month on the job. Fixmer-Oraiz sided with Sullivan and Green after taking a brief recess to consider their options.
Fixmer-Oraiz called the decision "stressful" and earlier spoke about how this process is new to them and how they want to be responsible as a public servant. They and the other four supervisors also expressed an interest in trying to reform the system down the line.
The supervisors did not vote formally on Wednesday to approve these raises. The raises will be approved when the next fiscal year budget is approved.
George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (319) 214-5039, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Johnson County Supervisors accept low pay raises for elected officials
