County Considers Pay Raises Citizens Group Recommends Raises For Eight Officials

A corrected list of Salary Review Committee members ran on October 28, 1999 under the headline “Salary Review members named.”

Eight of the people elected to run Spokane County government would get big pay raises if county commissioners follow the recommendations of a citizens committee.

Committee members said they were shocked at how little most of the county’s elected officials earn compared with those in counties of similar size across the state.

Composed of nine members, each appointed by one of the county’s nine nonjudicial elected officials, the committee unanimously recommended increasing wages for commissioners, the prosecutor, assessor, auditor, clerk and treasurer. Sheriff Mark Sterk would not get a raise because he already earns more than sheriffs in the counties studied.

“The biggest shock was the commissioners’ salaries,” former Judge Ben McInturff told commissioners Tuesday. “There are 17 people in this county (government) who make more than you do.”

Commissioner Phil Harris earns $61,000 a year. Salaries for the two other commissioners are set to reach $61,000 starting Jan. 1, 2001, when the next term starts for each.

The committee recommended increasing the commissioners’ salaries to $75,000 in 2000 and $85,000 in 2001.

However, state law prohibits commissioners from giving themselves a raise during their current terms. Assuming they decide to run again, commissioners John Roskelley and Kate McCaslin would seek re-election in 2000; Harris in 2002.

“I think there’s a pretty slim chance that we’ll raise the commissioners’ salaries,” McCaslin said. “I think there’s a higher possibility that we’ll look at the other officials’ salaries.”

The committee recommended raising salaries for the auditor, assessor, clerk and treasurer from $59,000 to $65,500 as of New Year’s Day 2000. Those officials would get another raise a year later, to $72,000.

Prosecutor Steve Tucker’s pay would increase from $89,000 to $94,000 at the start of 2000. Under state law, the nonelected public defender earns the same as the prosecutor.

Commissioners voted last year to cut the sheriff’s pay from $90,000 to $82,000 as of Jan. 1, 1999. The change was made because Sterk’s predecessor, Sheriff John Goldman, earned far more than sheriffs in other counties.

The salary committee found that the average sheriff’s salary in the six counties studied is $73,000. However, committee member Chris Powell noted that Sterk is responsible for the county jail and 911 emergency communication system - tasks handled by other officials in most counties.

McInturff said his own salary was $1,800 in 1953 when he became a county justice of the peace. It increased to $5,400 the following year, and “we felt lucky to get it.”

But McInturff and the other committee members said they worry salaries aren’t high enough to attract the best candidates.

“One of the proudest things a person could do is be a public servant,” McInturff said. “But that doesn’t mean you should have to live at a substandard level as far as your home, your family, being able to take a vacation.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Members of the Salary Review Committee Each of the nine nonjudicial elected officials in Spokane County appointed one member to the Salary Review Committee. Here are the members:

Dennis Beemer, appointed by Commissioner John Roskelley. District Court Judge Harold Clarke, appointed by Clerk Tom Fallquist. Raymond Dodge, appointed by Prosecutor Steve Tucker. Former county Auditor Bill Donahue, appointed by Assessor Sadie Cooney. Bob Fukai, appointed by Treasurer Linda Wolverton. Chris Powell, appointed by Sheriff Mark Sterk. Heidi Stanley, appointed by Auditor Vicky Dalton. Judi Williams, appointed by Commissioner Kate McCaslin. Former Judge Ben McInturff, appointed by Commissioner Phil Harris.