Carroll County to phase in supplement increase for probate judge, commissioners say

Commissioners in Carroll County outlined a plan to bring the probate judge's pay closer to peer counties without overwhelming this year's budget.

Commissioner Chance, speaking for himself and Commissioner Bailey, said they used a per-capita comparison among Article 6 probate courts in counties with populations under 200,000 to calculate a target total compensation of $145,370.41 for Carroll County's probate judge. He told the board the difference from current pay totaled $19,192.34 and proposed dividing that increase over two years so the county would budget about $9,596.17 in each of the coming two budgets.

The commissioners also discussed protecting the county from open-ended supplements by tying the county portion to a cap: they proposed a limit equal to 80% of superior court pay, which was described in session as roughly 160 (interpreted by commissioners as an indexpoint near $160,000). The cap would allow state-level raises that increase the total pay to be partially absorbed by the state portion and would prevent the county supplement from rising without bound.

Commissioner Bailey praised the work and complimented the mathematics used to derive the figures. Commissioners clarified that the county portion applies to the supplement the county provides in addition to state-funded salary components and that the supplement's annual expense allowance of $3,600 would be considered in calculations.

No formal vote was taken during the work session; the chair reminded the board the budget will be presented and advertised in May and can be amended before a scheduled June vote.