The Wright County Board of Commissioners set the 2019 salaries for elected officials during their final meeting of 2018.
The board approved a three-percent increase for County Attorney Tom Kelly, from $147,992 to $152,437 and for Auditor/Treasurer Bob Hiivala from $128,669 to $132,530.
Newly-elected Sheriff Sean Deringer’s salary was set at $129,000, slightly below former Sheriff Joe Hagerty’s $133,312.
Commissioner Michael Potter said the minimum salary for sheriff was set prior to the elections by state statutes at $91,540.80. He said there was discussion at a committee meeting about where Deringer would fit into the pay scale.
There were proposals ranging from $115,000 up to $133,000 before the $129,000 figure was reached.
“Sheriff-elect Deringer has done everything possible to prepare himself for the position. He has lots of training. And sheriffs in comparable counties are within a certain range,” he said. “Wright Co. has the third largest department in the state. You want to be fair. You want to do what’s right.”
Commissioner Darek Vetsch said it was up to the board to be fiscally responsible.
“If we would have paid him much below that, it could have cost us that much in litigation because he could have easliy filed a case against us,” he said, “and we would have a hard time defending what we would be paying him because he would be using comparable counties and comparable departments of the same size. He would have the same educational background. If we would have paid him $115,000, we probably have lost and we would have the cost of the legal battle and he would have still gotten the same wage.”
The commissioners also approved a three-percent increase for themselves, raising their salary from $39,931 to $41,129.
The final vote was, 4-1, with Chair Mark Daleiden voting against.
Daleiden has voted against commissioner increases before and felt it was too much.
“When we’re being paid more than some of the fulltime employees in the county, I don’t think that’s quite right,” he said. “That’s my position and I’m sticking with it.”
Other business
The board also appointed Michael Young as the Wright County Drainage Inspector for a term that expires on Dec.31, 2019.
