The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners Tuesday adopted a new policy regarding establishing their own salaries.

Starting next December for the calendar year 2019, their annual wage will be set to match the most current countywide median fulltime worker wage as established by the US Census Bureau.

The decision came after workshop discussions earlier this year about how to determine a fair salary for the commissioners without them having to make a decision at the end of each year.

Administrator Steve Taylor said over the past eight years, the board raised its salary just once for two percent. That happened in 2013, increasing their wages from $37,653 to $38,406. It has remained the same for the past five years.

They discussed possibly matching a raise every county staff member received each year, or a consistent percentage every year.

 

Tuesday, Taylor said the increase in the county’s median wage was more representative of how the economy was doing. The difficulty was trying to “catch up” with salaries for the rest of the county.

 

The median fulltime wage was $46,364 in 2010, already close to $10,000 more than the commissioners’ salary.

 

In 2016 the median salary had reached $49,272.

 

Taylor’s proposal was to incorporate expenses the county pays for each commissioner each year - mileage and per diems for attending meetings. The average mileage  over the past four years has been $2,774. The per diem average is $3,429. Combining those costs with the existing salary totals $44,609, close to the median county wage.

 

Taylor’s other proposal was to make up the difference with a one-time salary adjustment to reach the $49,272 level for 2018. The actual increase is $4,663.

 

Taylor said that amount might seem large, but since the board hasn’t raised its own salary in years, the total isn’t much.

 

“Even with this change, it’s less than inflation over the past eight years,” he said.

 

With the new policy, commissioners will no longer receive mileage reimbursement or per diems. Taylor said it will save the county money by cutting down staff time.

 

“There is a lot of paperwork, not only from the board’s standpoint but in administration calculating mileage and per diems,” he said.

 

The board also has the authority to override the policy during times of recessions, or downward or stagnant property tax base changes.

 

The board also approved 2.5% salary increases for its four elected officials for 2018. Salaries for those individuals are as follows: Sheriff Joel Brott - $148,266.25; County Attorney Kathleen Heaney -  $147,285.33;  Auditor/ Treasurer Diane Arnold- $105,919.40; Recorder - Michelle Ashe - $100,853.83.