Six percent raises for County Asessor's Office staff win approval from Conference Board

The cost of the salaries of Winneshiek County Assessor's Office employees are shared by Winneshiek County and school districts and cities within Winneshiek County.

There are three votes cast in Conference Board meetings--one vote by the combined school districts, one vote by the combined cities and one vote by the Winneshiek County Board.

A request for six percent raises for Assessor's Office employees led to disagreements between the two groups.  The cities and school districts approved of the increase, while county supervisors opposed it.

The Winneshiek County Conference Board looked at the compensation  for the assessor, deputy assessor and the office manager of 12 counties with comparable assessed valuations to Winneshiek County.  The assessor's salary ranked at the very bottom. The deputy assessor and the office manager were both second from the bottom.

The school districts and the cities felt a six percent increase was justified based on comparable positions. County supervisors thought the Assessor's Office employees should get the same two percent pay raises other county employees are getting this year. 

The county board's argument did not prevail--the school districts and cities outvoted the county board 2-1.