Jackson County's elected officials should receive only a partial cost-of-living salary raise in light of deep budget cuts, a county budget committee decided Tuesday.
The three volunteer members of the committee agreed a 2 percent increase in salaries was appropriate for the assessor, clerk, commissioners, district attorney, justice of the peace, sheriff and surveyor.
The committee rejected a proposal to give these elected officials a 3.39 percent raise, which would have kept pace with cost-of-living increases. The raise would have cost the county $20,185; a 2 percent increase would cost $11,909.
County Administrator Danny Jordan said that either raise wouldn't make much of a dent in the county's budget, which took a $23 million hit when Congress failed to renew the county timber payments program, known as the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act.
"We're not talking about saving somebody's job," said Jordan.
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Committee member Craig Morris initially thought the county shouldn't give a salary increase because of the budget problems. "Somebody should say no," he said.
But Shayne Maxwell, another committee member, suggested a compromise of 2 percent because of a general feeling among the committee members that elected officials do work hard and that their pay should remain on par with other comparably sized counties.
Deputy County Administrator Harvey Bragg said the county has had pay freezes in the past, followed by increases a few years later as salaries fell below other counties. "It caused a huge amount of political fallout," he said.
A comparison with other counties shows local elected officials generally receive similar salaries to their counterparts, with some higher and others lower.
For example, County Assessor Dan Ross receives $84,000, about 12.39 percent more than the average salary of assessors in Deschutes, Douglas, Josephine, Linn, Marion and Yamhill counties.
County commissioners make $71,105, 2.09 percent less than the average salary of commissioners in Benton, Deschutes, Lane, Linn, Marion and Yamhill counties.
Commissioners don't take part in the discussions about elected officials' salaries even though they are part of the budget committee. A decision is expected later on a proposal to increase the salaries of managers and other non-union county workers by 3.39 percent.
Commissioner C.W. Smith, responding to complaints by some union workers, said there is a misconception that a county worker who is not part of the union is a manager, leading to what he thinks is the mistaken belief that the county has too many managers. He said many secretaries and assistants aren't part of the union.
"This kind of criticism at this time is destructive," said Smith, who spoke prior to the meeting of the volunteer members of the budget committee.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
