LOGAN — At their regular meeting on Oct. 11, the members of the Cache County Council once again delayed any decision on the red-hot topic of compensation for elected officials.
The council’s agenda included Ordinance 2022-32, which would have awarded all elected officials, including the council members themselves, an 8 percent cost of living adjustment.
With three members absent, the council barely had a quorum, so council member Gordon Zilles took the unusual step of asking whether any of the members present were planning to vote against that ordinance.
When council member Gina Worthen signaled that she intended to vote “nay,” Zilles recommended that the vote be delayed until the full council could consider the ordinance at their next meeting.
“We’ve got a pretty significant budget issue that we’re dealing with,” council vice chair Paul Borup explained for the benefit of young members of a Government class from the InTech Collegiate Academy attending Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re $2 million short so far. We’re trying not to raise taxes. We know that there are a lot of things going on in the economy, with citizens that have to pay taxes. So we’re trying to decide if we want to give that salary increase to the elected officials like we did for the regular employees.”
“I think it would be wise to put this on the agenda for another meeting to see what he whole council thinks,” Zilles suggested, wanting to give missing members Nolan Gunnell, Dave Erickson and council chair Barbara Tidwell a voice on the issue.
After hearing a September workshop presentation in which Amy Adams, the county’s human resources director, explained that it was cheaper to retain employees than to hire and re-train new ones, the council voted to provide an 8 percent cost of living adjustment to all county employees.
The exception to that decision was, as always, elected officials.
The county council has been struggling with the issue of compensation for elected officials all year.
In January, members of the Cache County Council voted themselves double-digit pay raises for 2022 while denying salary increases for more than half of the county’s other elected officials.
In a motion that was eventually approved after much discussion, council member David Erickson identified credentialed elected officials deserving of the 7 percent pay increase as the county attorney, the county assessor and the sheriff.
His motion also indicated that 2021 compensation levels should be adequate for other county officials, including the county executive, the clerk/auditor, the county recorder and the county treasurer.
In June, Borup attempted to get a pay hike for County Treasurer Craig McAllister while still excluding the county executive, the clerk/auditor and the county recorder. Ultimately, that motion was voted down.
The Cache County Council will meet again on Tuesday, Oct. 25.