Pay raise plan has right direction
It’s entertaining to watch Kootenai County commissioners trying to give other elected officials and themselves pay raises.
With few exceptions, the elected officials desire the raises and believe they deserve them. But they know constituents won’t approve.
As a result, commissioners, present and past, have approached the issue cautiously. Some have collected data from comparable jobs in the region to bolster their case for raises. Others, including the current commissioners, have hired consultants to study the county’s wage structure. Still others have eschewed raises rather than upset voters who might remember the pay increase at election time, putting pressure on fellow commissioners to deny themselves a pay hike.
After years of dancing around the sensitive topic, the commissioners have adopted a good approach to determine their pay, at least for this year. For the first time, they’re forming a citizens advisory committee, composed of experts and constituents selected through the jury pool, to recommend salary levels. The panel will recommend pay figures for the county’s elected officials after reviewing a private consultant’s findings. Ultimately, the commissioners will have a final say. Washington uses a similar method in handling salaries for the governor, legislators, judges and others, except it authorizes its advisory board to establish final pay figures to remove politics from the process. The commissioners should empower their advisory group to do the same thing.
By removing themselves entirely from the process, the commissioners would make matters easier for themselves and achieve an equitable pay scale for those who follow them.
Elected officials aren’t getting rich working for Kootenai County. The three commissioners earn $53,510 per year – decent pay by North Idaho standards but somewhat unimpressive when responsibilities of overseeing a $58 million budget and courthouse operations are factored in. The county clerk, treasurer and assessor receive the same amount, while Prosecutor Bill Douglas receives $78,153 and Sheriff Rocky Watson, $65,261. Part-time Coroner Robert West is paid $25,786 per year.
No matter what the county commissioners do with this hot potato, they will be criticized. Last fall, they were blasted for allocating $61,000 for a California consultant to study the wage scale for all county departments to bring them in line with comparable jobs elsewhere. Some felt the job could be done in house. But the commissioners made the right move. Kootenai County is no longer a backwater. In terms of volatile issues like employee pay and benefits, the county should get the best advice possible – not assign harried office help to compile a list of salaries from nearby governmental entities.
The commissioners can further remove themselves from the process and bring county pay into line by appointing an advisory board to study in-house salaries and benefits annually. That’s the best way to ensure county pay is adequate to attract and keep the best people possible.