Commissioners debate elected-official pay, COLA and deputy pay percentages; final action deferred

Commissioners reviewed a salary study and discussed the recommendation presented by NACO. The recommended figure discussed in the meeting was cited verbally but was unclear in the transcript; board members agreed to review the packet and resume formal action next week.

Discussion topics included setting a minimum cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 3% with an upper limit (several ranges were mentioned), the option of keeping commissioners' pay unchanged for the coming election year to reduce costs (the chair noted this approach could save roughly $36,000 if implemented), and an alternative of setting flat-dollar annual increases instead of percentage raises.

Separately, commissioners discussed deputy compensation as a percent of elected-official pay. Proposed ranges in the discussion included 65–85%; commissioners noted the sheriff’s chief deputy cap should remain at or below 85% and that the board should retain authority to set percentages for future hires depending on experience. The board directed staff to prepare resolution language and financial numbers for formal consideration at the next meeting.

Because the transcript contained garbled numbers when referencing the NACO recommendation, the article notes the need to verify the exact recommended salary figure from the board packet before publication or action.