Washington County poised to keep proposed pay bumps

WASHINGTON — County supervisors appeared mostly willing to stay the course on salary raises for the local government’s staff next fiscal year, after decision-makers suggested they might reverse motions for the pay hikes.

Supervisors approved a 2% raise for all elected officials and their deputies — whose salaries are tied to those of their department heads — and 2.5% for all other staff on Dec. 10, but Board Chair Richard Young put the issue back on the table a few weeks later, arguing decision-makers failed to adequately “show their work” in accordance with new state laws that recently took effect.

“The very first paragraph (of Iowa Code 331.907) pretty much says what we have to do, because we’re acting as a compensation board,” Young said at a work session Dec. 30. “If you feel we’re meeting those requirements, then I guess we’re good, but … I don’t think we’ve met those requirements, because we were supposed to compare salaries to other counties, private entities, states and the federal government.”

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After deliberation at that work session, however, supervisors said they felt confident that they had shown their work, citing reports from department heads and rationale tied to the federal Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment.

Other officials said it was ambiguous exactly how much detail was needed under the newly modified state code’s “show your work” provision. While supervisors received reports from every department head detailing salaries of similar positions in other local governments, the group did not explicitly tie its rationale to those reports until voting on a memo to that effect last week.

“I think you just have to be prepared to provide that documentation, in some format,” County Attorney Nathan Repp said. “The Board of Supervisors is required to provide documentation showing how it determined the recommended compensation schedule … I think most of the information that you have there includes that.”

The vote of approval was 4-1, with all but Supervisor Marcus Fedler voting in favor of the memo describing supervisors’ rationale.

The result was a reversal for supervisors Young and Bob Yoder, who voted earlier in December against the 2% raise for elected officials.

Supervisor Fedler also flipped his vote as well, to the negative. He said that the county should hold off on salary raises for the foreseeable future, citing an ISAC report showing Washington County’s officials ranking eighth in the state by total elected official salaries, despite ranking just 27th in population.

That, he argued, coupled with the counties ever-encroaching budget constraints, should give pause to anyone considering raises. He also claimed the payments had little correlation with whether qualified people sought out the local government jobs.

“The 22,000 people in this county are paying in the top 10% of the state,” Fedler said. “We didn’t have any compensation for any of the positions up for election this year, except for Bob … I don’t know how we can justify any raises, for anybody, for a long time.”

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Others disagreed. Supervisor Bob Yoder — the only county official to face a challenger candidate in the 2024 election — said he believed the lack of competition proved officials weren’t overpaid. Supervisor Stan Stoops, meanwhile, argued that overpaying was ultimately better than underpaying employees.

“We’re going to come to a point where we’re going to have to play catch-up, and that’s going to zap us,” he said. “It’s happened to us before.”

Asked why his vote changed in the weeks since Dec. 10, Fedler said his opinion had changed, “Given the information that (he) was presented with.”

The county continues to seek out ways to trim its budget in the coming fiscal year. Supervisors blamed state laws, especially House File 718, for mandating tax reductions they argue could force the county to cut services.

“If our budget was in line, I wouldn’t even be having these arguments,” Fedler said. “But we don’t, we have a problem, we need to address it, and this is one way to address it … it has nothing to do with whether or not any of the elected are doing their jobs properly.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com