Johnson County Board of Supervisors approve new, higher proposed salaries for county elected officials
The new vote is the result of the state’s rollback bill that was passed in February requiring local governments to redo parts of their budgets, including salaries.
Vice chairperson Rod Sullivan speaks during the Johnson County Board of Supervisors meeting in the Johnson County Administration Building on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
March 29, 2023
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new set of proposed salaries for county elected officials that are slightly higher than the previous set during its Wednesday work session.
The slight increase comes a little over a month after the supervisors voted to decrease the proposed salary increases on Feb. 15. In that vote, they lowered the salary increase of the supervisors, treasurer, and auditor to 1.56 percent, the attorney to 2.5 percent, and the sheriff to 1.8 percent.
With today’s approval, they have raised the salary increases from that first vote:
- A 6.4 percent increase for the attorney
- A 4 percent increase for auditor, recorder, treasurer, and supervisors
- A 4.8 percent for the sheriff
The initial proposed salary came from the Johnson County Compensation Board, with the proposed salaries the same as the one presented in February. The compensation board had proposed 16 percent for the attorney, 12 percent for the sheriff, and 10 percent for all other elected officials.
RELATED: Proposed salary increases for elected officials lowered by Johnson County Board of Supervisors
At the February meeting, Johnson County Compensation Board Chair Ryan From said the proposed increases reflected the cost of living in the county and as a raise for employees.
The reason for the new increases relates to the state legislature’s rollback bill that passed last month. Local governments like Johnson County have had to rework parts of their budget because of the bill, which includes salaries for elected officials.
Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz briefly spoke about the increase and voiced their support.
“[I want] to appreciate that we have had a lot of discussions, there’s been a lot of work, and obviously getting to this 4 percent for the entire Johnson County staff,” Fixmer-Oraiz said.
In February, Fixmer-Oraiz said they wanted to reform the system for adjusting salaries, and mentioned Wednesday that plans were being made to move forward to this later this year, potentially in September.
Other counties in Iowa have also been going back to discuss their salaries again, including in neighboring Linn County. Supervisors there unanimously voted to reduce the recommendations of their compensation board by 59 percent, a move to stay within their current budget.
