3 percent pay raises recommended for Winneshiek County elected officials

Winneshiek County's elected officials would get 3 percent pay raises for 2017-2018, under a recommendation made Tuesday evening by the County Compensation Board.

The recommendation is sharply different from the board's recommendations the past three years.  Then it had recommended six percent pay raises each year--the result of a compensation study ordered by the county which showed salaries paid to Winneshiek County elected officials were lower than those paid to comparable Iowa county officials.  The study recommended an 18 percent pay raise, which was phased in over three years.

Board member Jim Burns, noting the results of a new study which showed elected officials in similar Iowa counties averaged a 3.2 pay raise this year, called the proposal for a 3 percent pay raise for next fiscal year "reasonable."  Three other members of the board agreed, although board members Tade Kerndt and Al Ettledorf voted against the recommendation.

The 3 percent raises would be given to County Attorney Andy Van der Maaten, County Auditor Ben Steines, County Recorder Teresa Bockman, County Sheriff Dan Marx, County Treasurer Wayne Walter and all five county supervisors.

The pay raise recommendation will be voted on in March by the county board as part of its vote on a 2017-2018 Winneshiek County budget.