Compensation Board Increases Elected Official Pay 2%
A pair of meetings on Monday set the elected official salaries in Powder River County. In a morning meeting, the commissioners voted on a motion which would reduce their full-time pay from 100% to 75%. The motion included an exception that if there is a dissenting vote, the commissioner that votes nay will be grandfathered in until the end of their term, with the change to ¾ pay taking effect for that position at the beginning of the next term in office, which would be January 1 of 2023. The motion also contained language which would pay the commissioners a $2000 stipend, which they are required to be paid via Montana code, but which has not been taken by the commissioners in the past.
The vote passed 2-1, with Commissioners Lee Randall and John Olson voting for the manner, and Commissioner Donna Giacometto voting against, citing that she did not feel the $2000 stipend was justified.
Effectively, the vote moved the commissioners to ¾ pay, while adding $2000 to their salaries per year, which will mean they make 79% of the full time wage, and will save the county around $27,500 a year, once all three commissioners are on the ¾ scale.
The change to ¾ pay comes after several years of talk within the community about whether or not the commissioners’ pay was commensurate with the amount of hours worked. In May of 2018, an article in the Examiner laid out the arguments on both sides, mentioning that the commissioners were making $79.14 per hour for the time they were officially in the office, according to the 2018 salaries. The flip side, as noted by speaking to the commissioners, was that they performed a considerable amount of work outside of those office hours. The article also cited the pay scales for commissioners in a number of similar counties throughout Montana. The vast majority of counties with similar populations to Powder River County paid their commissioners on a part time basis.
Returning to the meetings, an afternoon compensation board meeting to set elected official salaries convened. Discussion centered on a potential cost of living increase, with talk of inflation causing less buying power for the officials in their daily lives. A Bureau of Labor and Statistics study cited by the board showed a 0.93% inflation rate from 2017 through December of 2020, which was discussed and seemed to miss the more recent increase in fuel and other goods. Indeed, recent data shows an increase in the consumer price index of 5.1% over the last twelve months in the western region.
Commissioner Randall mentioned that the county’s budget looked good for next year, with no major cuts or tax increases planned. He said that oil and gas revenue had been less than hoped for in the last year, which had been accounted for in the budget, while a large pot of money from COVID funds helped to offset losses.
“Financially, the county is in good shape,” he said.
On the matter of the $2000 stipend for elected officials, several elected officials in attendance indicated their wishes to receive the stipend, including the Clerk & Recorder, Cynde Jo Gatlin, District Clerk of Court, Vanna Byrd, Treasurer, Pat Phillippi, and County Superintendent of Schools, Molly Lloyd (hers would be $400). The board voted on and unanimously passed a motion to grant these stipends.
The Salary Compensation Board made a unanimous decision to grant a 2% raise for elected officials, which means the majority of elected officials will see $876.04 more in their paychecks per year, and costs the county around an additional $8000 per year, though this number does not account for the stipends or the additional percentage of income a deputy in any department will make, as their salary is based on a percentage of the elected official’s salary.
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