CACHE COUNTY – While weighing a tentative $103 million budget for 2027 at their regular meeting on Nov. 10, the members of the Cache County Council voted themselves a roughly 20 percent increase in compensation across the board starting in January.
After some discussion, the pay increase included in Ordinance 2026-36 passed by a 6-to-1 council vote, with only council member JoAnn Bennett opposing the measure.
“I’m against tax increases and my people are against them,” said Bennett, who lost her seat on the council in the Nov. 3 election after County Executive George Daines endorsed her Democratic opponent, Allison Goulais.
Supposedly, this ordinance is in the best interests of Cache County and its citizens, she added, quoting from Ordinance 2026-36.
“I don’t believe that’s true.”
In total, the pay hike for elected and executive county officials will raise county compensation expenses by nearly $260,000 in 2027, from the current $1,293,000 to $1,552,000, according to Amy Adams, the county director of Human Resources.
As she had in previous years, Adams argued that the proposed pay hike was necessary to keep salary levels for those elective posts competitive and ensure that fully qualified candidates would file to run for local offices.
As outlined in Ordinance 2026-36, the approved pay increase will raise council members’ salaries from $24,000 per year to $34,000 and hike the salary of outgoing Council Chair Sandi Goodlander from $30,000 to $40,000.
Like Bennett, Goodlander failed to secure re-election on Nov. 3.
New salary rates will also be imposed for Daines, incoming County Attorney J. Brett Chambers, County Sheriff Chad Jensen and County Auditor Matt Funk.
Daines’ salary will jump to $206,288 from the current $149,085; the attorney’s compensation will increase from $200,280 to $206,288; Jensen’s salary will jump to $175,000 from the current $140,512; and the Funk’s compensation will increase to $160,000 from the current level of $121,130.
Council member Keegan Garrity took issue with the increased compensation level for the county executive and sheriff, saying that those office holders had both been re-elected last week and certainly didn’t represent “any flight risk.”
After Daines argued that anyone managing a $100 million annual budget and 300 employees deserved adequate compensation, however, Garrity’s motion to trim those salaries failed by a five-to-two council vote.
A uniform salary level of $140,000 will also take effect in January for the county posts of assessor, clerk, recorder and treasurer.