decorahnews.com analysis: Are Winneshiek County's elected officials getting paid fair salaries? (Part 2)

When the Winneshiek County Compensation Board met in December to make a recommendation on salaries for 2016-2017 for the county's elected officials, the first proposal it considered was 4 percent pay raises for most county elected officials, but 6 percent pay raises for the County Attorney and County Sheriff.  Eventually the board instead approved a recommendation for 6 percent pay raises across the board.

One of the problems in determining what salaries are fair is that it's hard to compare some salaries to others.  This is particularly true of the County Attorney's salary, but somewhat true of the Sheriff's salaries.

Comparing Winneshiek County salaries to salaries paid in other Iowa counties is difficult because different counties have different systems.  In Winneshiek County, there are three attorneys who make up the County Attorney's Office--and all of them are considered part-time.  There is also a Victim Witness Coordinator whose salary is paid with county funds.

In Fayette County, for instance, the County Attorney is considered part-time, but the assistants are full-time.  In Bremer County, there is only one assistant county attorney--but their salary is higher than that of many county attorneys.

For the salaries of Sheriff, the question becomes which positions are comparable.  In Bremer County the Sheriff is paid more than the Waverly Police Chief, but in Winneshiek County the Decorah Police Chief has a higher salary than the Winneshiek County Sheriff.  Should a Sheriff be paid more than an Iowa State Patrol Lieutnenant, who oversees the post to which he or she is assigned?  They supervise 18 employees, while the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department has 26 employees.

Members of the Compensation Board decided in the end to give six percent pay raises to all elected county officials, bypassing all the questions about how Winneshiek County compares to other Iowa counties.