Raise Pay For Officials, Panel Says Public Input Sought After Citizens Group Finds County Leaders Paid Less Than Those Elsewhere

Spokane County’s elected officials deserve a raise, a newly formed citizens committee has decided.

How big of one remains to be seen, but annual salaries for some officials could jump by as much as 39 percent over two years under a proposal being considered by the group.

The county’s Citizens Salary Commission will hold a public hearing on the pay-raise suggestions next week.

After the hearing, the group will formulate a recommendation on pay grades for elected officials and forward it to county commissioners, who formally set salaries for county workers.

“They have not finalized that yet,” said Kathy Malzahn of the county’s Human Resources Department.

“They’re still looking for public input.”

Salary committee members hope commissioners give their advice credence, said Lois Stratton, the group’s chairwoman.

“They assured us that they know (Spokane County) is behind in salaries,” Stratton said. “We certainly don’t want our report to wind up on a shelf.”

County commissioners Kate McCaslin, John Roskelley and Phil Harris have said they will give the group’s recommendation significant weight in deciding salaries for the elected officials.

The group is recommending that:

* The auditor, assessor, clerk and treasurer earn $68,000 to $77,000 annually. The current salary for those positions is $61,000 per year.

* The sheriff earn $82,000 to $95,000 per year. The salary for the position is currently $82,000.

* The prosecuting attorney earn $95,000 to $105,400 annually, compared with the $88,871 the position pays now.

* County commissioners earn $70,150 to $85,000 per year. They currently make about $61,000 annually.

Salary commission members suggest the raises be phased-in over two years, said Stratton, a former 3rd District state senator.

Raises for county commissioners in the District 1 and 2 seats, to which Roskelley and McCaslin were just re-elected, would go into effect in January if commissioners act on the recommendations by the end of the year.

The District 3 position, occupied by Harris, would not receive the potential pay raise until January 2003 because commissioners are forbidden by law from raising their salaries during their current terms.

Those recommendations probably will be changed based on public input, though, Stratton said.

“I don’t think the high figures will carry at all,” she said. “Even the low figures reflect quite an increase. But there was a lot of concern on the commission that we are behind in like salaries across the state.”

The salary commission was created in September after county residents voted overwhelmingly to set up a committee to review the pay of elected officials.

County commissioners have appointed salary committees in the past, but their recommendations were often criticized as being politically tainted.

The idea behind the new 10-member salary commission was to remove as much politics from the process as possible.

In that light, six members - including Stratton - were randomly chosen from the auditor’s list of registered voters. The other four were appointed by county commissioners.

The group has met five times to review salary information for elected officials from across the state and from other jobs with similar qualifications and responsibilities, Malzahn said.

“They collected and analyzed a lot of data,” Malzahn said.

The salary commission also listened to local officials plead their cases for more pay, Stratton said. Elected officials have maintained for years that they are underpaid when compared with their counterparts elsewhere.

At first, some members of the new commission were skeptical that pay raises were warranted, Stratton said.

“The clerk, auditor, assessor and treasurer all stated they would be happy with $70,000 per year. Well, wouldn’t we all?” she said.

After reviewing information and studying reports from previous salary commissions, the group agreed that the elected officials deserve more money, she said.

“We decided that some raises aren’t such a bad thing after all,” Stratton said. “I just hope the public will come out Monday and tell us what they think.”

Two sidebars appeared with the story: 1. HEARING Salaries

The Spokane County Citizens Salary Commission will hold a public hearing Monday at 6 p.m. in the lower level conference room of the Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway.

2. DETAILS Picking the panel

To minimize as much as possible the taint of politics, six members of the salary commission were picked at random from the roll of registered voters. The other four were appointed by county commissioners.