Floyd County Compensation Board begins process of setting salaries

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The first step in deciding what Floyd County elected officials will be paid next fiscal year took place Wednesday afternoon as the county compensation board met for the first time this session.

County Recorder Deb Roberts, Treasurer Frank Rottinghaus and Auditor Gloria Carr each presented the compensation board with information about what their offices do, especially any recent changes or challenges in their duties.

Supervisors Roy Schwickerath and Linda Tjaden were also at the meeting and made brief comments. Schwickerath noted that while some counties have five supervisors, Floyd County is among those that have three.

Carr presented information from the Iowa State Association of Counties showing where each Floyd County elected official ranks compared with his or her counterpart in each of the other Iowa counties.

Here are the current salaries and where they rank among other Iowa counties for each officer:

• Supervisors (3) – $39,312 each, 17th highest.
• County attorney – $104,362, 34th highest.
• County auditor – $67,132, 31st highest.
• County recorder – $66,913, 24th highest.
• County sheriff – $89,004, 25th highest.
• County treasurer – $66,913, 26th highest.

Floyd County currently ranks 49th among the 99 Iowa counties in population rank. It dropped this year from 48th place previously, Carr said.

She said that previous boards have considered a guideline of trying to keep officials’ salaries around the 25th rank in the state.

Troy Jaeger, who was elected as chairman of the group at the beginning of the meeting, wondered where that 25th rank idea had come from.

Kalen Schlader said it had to do with the longevity of the county officials and other factors.

“Even though we were ranked 48th, everyone had been here for quite a while. And we were happy with the way things were going, and so we kind of looked to maybe get them in the 20s,” Schlader said. “I don’t know where that 25 came, but it’s something we kind of used as a target.”

Jaeger said that’s something the board may need to look at if the population of the county continues to slide in rank.

Scott Tjaden said he struggles with comparing the elected officials with private industry.

“These people are management roles, they’re managing people, they’re managing budgets, they’re managing stuff,” Tjaden said. “If you look at management in the private sector you will not hire somebody at these salaries.”

Veronica Litterer said the board also needs to consider the time when one of the current officials wants to step down and the county needs to attract qualified candidates to take over.

“Civic duty is a big part of why people run for these offices, but at the same time they’ve got to make a living, because they’re giving up doing something else in order to serve in that capacity,” Litterer said. “A lot of what they do is a thankless job. You get a lot more complainers than you get thankers.”

But Jaeger said you also have to consider the benefits that county employees receive in addition to their pay.

“I’d trade health care (with county employees) any day,” he said.

The board members will take the information provided by the county elected officials, do some research on their own, then come back with recommendations at the next board meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4.

Under Iowa law, county elected officials appoint members of a compensation board that gathers information to make a recommendation to the county board of supervisors regarding what each elected official should be paid.

The supervisors can accept that recommendation or reduce it by an equal percentage for each official. They cannot increase pay for elected officials above the recommendation, but supervisors can change their own salary to a lesser increase than the recommendation.

Iowa law requires the compensation board to look at salaries “paid to comparable officers in other counties of this state, other states, private enterprise, and the federal government.”

What the compensation board recommends ultimately can influence what other county employees earn as well, as the supervisors often consider the percentage increase given to office-holders when deciding what other employees will be paid.

Compensation board members are:

• Chairman Troy Jaeger, appointed by the sheriff.
• Scott Tjaden, appointed by the treasurer.
• Lisa Garden, appointed by the auditor.
• Veronica Litterer, appointed by the recorder.
• Charley Thomson, appointed by the county attorney.
• Kalen Schlader and Cheryl Erb, appointed by the supervisors.

Thomson and Erb were not present at the first board meeting.