County officials could set their own pay under new law

WASHINGTON — On July 1, a statewide omnibus tax bill took effect, single-handedly disbanding every county compensation commission in Iowa. The advisory bodies have traditionally led discussions on the salaries of their elected officials, who get the final say on whether the suggestions are enacted.

Now, all 99 of the local governments have two options to pick from: reinstate their compensation boards, or pass the buck to county supervisors, having them make the call instead about how much to pay elected officials, including themselves.

Sen. Dawn Driscoll and Rep. Heather Hora — Washington County’s state legislators — both voted in favor of the bill, titled Senate File 2442.

“Property tax relief continues to be a priority for me and remains one of the biggest issues I hear about when talking to my constituents,” Driscoll said in an email. “The bill we passed this year simply empowers county boards of supervisors to control their budgets and help provide the property tax relief Iowans are expecting.”

At a meeting Tuesday morning, Washington County’s supervisors appeared split on the issue.

Some said they appreciated the compensation commission’s role as a more objective body, worrying that deciding their own salaries would invite public scrutiny and create a perception of self-interested officeholders.

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“If we don’t have a compensation board, we’re totally on the spot, every year,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Young. “Every year, we’re going to decide the elected official salary of everybody without input, except from us five. My preference is we leave it alone, we keep the compensation board.”

Others, however, argued a compensation board offered little in the way of checks and balances. For one thing, the boards are advisory only: county supervisors have the final say in any decisions that allocate taxpayer dollars.

For another, members of the commission are each delegated by a different elected official, usually chosen from among the officeholder’s personal friends. And the board meets in November or December with little widespread notice before hand; its recommendations usually only make waves after they reach the broader public, leaving constituents out of the loop during early deliberations.

The process also makes it difficult to understand the thought process behind pay raise decisions. Under the new law, compensation boards or pay-deciding supervisors will have to “show their work,” according to one advisory document from the Iowa State Association of Counties, which said boards would have to prove their recommendations align with similar positions’ salaries in other counties, states and private sector jobs. But beyond that, members are still not required to disclose their reasoning when they call for a change.

The onus often falls on local news outlets to track down compensation board members, asking them to explain the rationale of their recommendations after the fact. Even then, the board members not used to public spotlight sometimes prove hard to reach or decline to comment, citing a lack of authority to speak on the rest of the commission’s behalf.

Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said a supervisor-led approach could add transparency to pay-setting decisions.

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“If we did it ourselves, you could always — as the chair — call for a public hearing, which would involve even more of the public,” Seward said. “If we want to be transparent, we can figure out what we want, set a public hearing for it, and have people come in and say what they think of our plans. That’s getting the public involved.”

Washington County’s supervisors have been at odds with their compensation board before.

In 2021, the commission pressed decision-makers to raise all elected officials’ pay by 20% or more, ultimately succeeding despite pushback from supervisors worried about public backlash. A similar story played out the following year, with supervisors settling at 75% of the commission’s recommended pay raise in an effort to compromise.

The legislation that enacted this year’s compensation board changes — SF 2442 — was criticized by county officials for passing through the state house and senate at a breakneck pace. The earliest version of the bill reached a Ways and Means Committee docket on April 17, and was passed by the legislature two days later, before it was sent to the governor’s desk and signed on May 1, according to public bill tracking information.

In delaying their own decision about compensation boards, Washington County Supervisors said they hoped to give ample time for public input, and to better understand the new limits of the law. It was not immediately clear when the county would next discuss the matter.

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“We should get some public feedback,” Supervisor Marcus Fedler said. “It was brought up to the governor for a reason, put in a bill for a reason. Maybe there’s a large call for that sort of thing statewide that we’re not aware of.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com