By Mari Radtke
The county compensation board meets annually in O’Brien County. Most Iowa counties utilized a board separately from the elected officials to assist with determining an appropriate wage adjustment for elected officials and employees for the coming fiscal year. The task requires looking into a crystal ball for inflation rates and other factors over the next 18 months.
The state does provide a little guidance for some of the offices. For the current fiscal year, 2024, ending June 30, 2024 the state added requirements for a sheriff’s salary. Each county sheriff now must be compensated similarly to city police chiefs of comparable population size. The requirement pushed O’Brien County Sheriff’s salary up in fiscal year 2023 and caused the compensation board to again recommend a higher than the rest raise for Bruce Devereaux. The recommendation made to the supervisors for the sheriff for the coming fiscal year is 9%. Deputy salaries are required by law to be at a minimum percentage of a sheriff’s salary.
The guidance provided by state law is limited. It provides vague language suggesting compensation for elected officials be comparable to other counties of similar size. A ranking of counties by population size is available, as well as salaries for certain positions. That is a primary tool used by members of the compensation board. The part time county attorney, Katie Morgan, asked for and received, based on the various factors across the state for part time county attorneys was 10%.
The supervisors, auditor, treasurer and recorders salaries were recommended to increase by 4%. Deputies in those offices are required to meet a minimum percentage of the elected officials’ salaries.
Other county departments with their own boards and setting their own salaries are public health, veterans’ affairs, conservation and the assessor. It is their responsibility to build a budget and make a budget request to the board of supervisors. Budget requests from each department and the established property value assessments determine the levy and then the final tax bill.
The Iowa legislature severely limited the amount property assessments are allowed to increase for taxing purposes. Growth over a 3% growth rate forces the maximum levy allowed by law downward. O’Brien County expects to see over $250,000 in forced revenue cuts as a result of the new law.