Floyd County Compensation Board recommends range of salary increases for elected officials

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Compensation Board made quick work Monday afternoon of the board’s only duty – making recommendations for the salary increases for county elected officials for the next fiscal year.

The board discussed three proposals suggested by three members of the board, eventually approving a recommendation with salary increases ranging from 3.5% to 10.06%.

The compensation board consists of members appointed by the county’s elected officials – one each by the county attorney, auditor, recorder, treasurer and sheriff, and two by the county supervisors.

According to Iowa Code, the board’s job is to recommend each elected official’s pay for the next fiscal year by looking at “the compensation paid to comparable officers in other counties of this state, other states, private enterprise and the federal government,” except for the sheriff.

Because of the “Back the Blue” law passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2021, compensation boards are required to set the sheriff’s salary so that it is comparable to salaries paid to professional law enforcement administrators and command officers of the Iowa State Patrol, the Division of Criminal Investigation of the Department of Public Safety and city police chiefs employed by cities of similar population to the population of the county – pay levels significantly higher than many county sheriffs were making.

The compensation board has recommended increases for the county sheriff at higher rates than other county officers the previous two years, and did so again this year.

Board members Lisa Garden and Troy Jaeger each presented proposals that would bring the county elected officials close to the same rank compared to other counties in the state.

Garden chose the 45th highest salaries for each office among the counties, averaged the five salaries above that mark and below that mark, then added 3% for a cost-of-living increase.

Jaeger chose the 42nd highest salaries in each position, figured what it would cost to raise the Floyd County officials to that rate, then added 3.5%.

Both proposals resulted in a range of percentage increases, because the Floyd County officials are at different levels compared to their Iowa peers.

Floyd County currently ranks 48th in the state by population.

According to figures supplied to the board by County Auditor Gloria Carr at the board’s first meeting in November, the Floyd County supervisors are the 42nd highest paid in the state. The county auditor is 52nd, the county recorder is the 48th highest, the county treasurer is 51st, the county sheriff is 53rd and the county attorney is 87th.

The county attorney salary is not directly comparable because many county attorneys are full time and the Floyd County attorney position became part time when Todd Prichard was appointed last year to replace the previous county attorney.

Garden said she was comfortable with Jaeger’s figures based on the 42nd rank instead of hers based on the 45th rank, and Jaeger said if they proposed shooting for 42nd and the supervisors reduced it to 45th he would be happy with that.

Board Chair Kalen Schlader said he preferred keeping the percentage increases similar for all the departments, and he proposed a 4.7% increase for the sheriff and 3.7% for all the other county officers.

Garden moved that the board approve Jaeger’s proposal, which passed 6-1, with Schlader voting against.

The board will recommend pay increases of 3.5% for the county attorney and each of the three supervisors, 5.07% for the county recorder, 5.9% for the county treasurer, 6.85% for the county auditor and 10.06% for the county sheriff.

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors will have the final say on elected official salary increases for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2024.

The supervisors cannot grant pay increases higher than the recommendations of the compensation board, and if they reduce the recommendations they must reduce each office’s recommendation by the same percentage.

The supervisors are allowed to reduce their own pay increase by a greater amount than the other officers. Recent boards of supervisors have decided to take no annual pay increase.

Members of the compensation board are:

• Danielle Ellingson, appointed by County Attorney Todd Prichard.
• Lisa Garden, appointed by Auditor Gloria Carr.
• Veronica Litterer, appointed by Recorder Amy Assink.
• Troy Jaeger, appointed by Sheriff Jeff Crooks.
• Jason Daniels, appointed by Treasurer Jessie Holm.
• Kalen Schlader and Cheryl Erb, appointed by the Board of Supervisors.