Strafford County subcommittee recommends 0% then 2% pay plan for elected officials

The Policy and Procedure Subcommittee voted to recommend that Strafford County elected officials receive no pay increase in the first year and a 2% increase in the second year for the next term, approving the motion on a 4–1 roll call. The motion, moved by Representative Lomontane and seconded by Representative Lauschel, was presented as a cautious approach given recent large adjustments and rising health-insurance costs.

Committee members cited current inflation (noted at about 3.1%), recent comparability work and prior large salary adjustments as reasons to limit immediate increases. The chair summarized the committee’s view as favoring a flat first year followed by a modest second-year raise to preserve competitiveness while recognizing budget pressures.

County Attorney (speaker) described a heavier-than-typical workload, including civil representation and criminal-jail-related matters, saying, “I am currently representing the House of Corrections on 50 habeas petitions since October,” a point used to explain the county attorney’s broader duties when comparing salaries across counties. The Register of Deeds noted her office collects transport fees from federal marshals and ICE that other counties may not, saying, “we do take in and process the, transport fees from the marshals and from ICE. So we are actually taking in income that most of the other counties are not.”

Members discussed benefit structures and the common 80/20 employer–employee health-insurance split; rough figures were cited during the meeting (individual coverage by some estimates at about $1,100 per month, a two-person plan roughly $25,000 per year and a family plan about $40,000 per year), and the committee discussed offering stipends to employees who decline county coverage. Several members expressed concern that automatically tying annual raises to inflation could be politically or fiscally difficult for taxpayers, while others warned that too little change could hurt recruitment and retention.

The motion passed in a roll-call vote with Representative Kosinski recorded as No and Representatives LaMontagne, LaRochelle and Wall recorded as Yes (Wall said she voted "reluctantly"); the chair also voted Yes. The committee’s recommendation is advisory and will go to the full delegation for final approval.

The subcommittee adjourned after the vote.