Cerro Gordo supervisors cut recommendations for elected officials’ salaries by a third, freeze their own pay for the sixth straight year

MASON CITY — The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors today altered the recommendations made earlier this month by the county’s Compensation Board on salaries for elected officials for the fiscal year that begins on July 1st, and for the sixth straight year, they agreed to freeze their own pay.

The Compensation Board recommended 6% raises for most elected officials, as well as an almost 27% pay raise for Sheriff Kevin Pals in accordance with standards established by the “Back the Blue Act” passed by the Iowa Legislature earlier this year, but the supervisors unanimously approved that the recommendations be reduced by a third to 4% for most elected officials and 17.77% for Pals.

County director of administrative services Tom Meyer told the supervisors that by law they had to reduce the proposals equally.  “Any decrease, any change in what’s been recommended has to be proportionate. For example, if you cut everything in half, the raises for the elected officials would go from 6% to 3%, while the Sheriff would go from 26.65% down to 13.33%. So it’s not like one percent here and one percent there, it’s proportional of the recommended increase.”

Supervisor Tim Latham says the 4% raise is comparable to the cost of living.  “Basically I looked at what the Comp Board brought up. I looked at what Social Security was and what the CPI is, and I just believe this is a good place to be, and the county can justify it at 4%.”

Supervisor Chris Watts says the supervisors deciding to freeze their pay once again keeps with a long-lasting promise he made to his constituents.  “A promise made when I ran as far as freezing the supervisors’ salaries, and I believe this will be year number five or six that we’ve done so.”

With the approval of the 4% pay raises, County Attorney Carlyle Dalen’s salary will increase to $139,189, while the salaries for County Auditor Adam Wedmore, County Recorder AnnMarie Legler, and County Treasurer Patricia Wright will increase to $85,769. Wedmore will also receive an additional $5,000 stipend to oversee the county’s GIS operations.

 Pals’ salary will increase from $112,029 to $131,937. As part of the Back the Blue Act mandate passed by the state legislature, county sheriffs are to be paid a rate comparable to police chiefs in cities of similar population, as well as comparable to administrators and command officers of the Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.