Douglas County commissioners debate market-based pay increases and elected-official raises

Douglas County commissioners spent substantial time July 11 discussing proposed market-based pay adjustments for county staff and whether elected officials’ salaries should be treated differently. The conversation took place during a budget deliberation session; commissioners did not take votes and staff were asked to supply additional comparative data before the next meeting.

The county’s budget proposal includes market-based pay adjustments and a separate merit pool. Sarah, a county staff member who led the budget presentation, described the county’s approach: “we do not have a cost of living adjustment. That's not what our pay plan puts forward. We do market based pay, which is based off of what the cost of the job is in the marketplace.” Sarah said her analysis shows a proposed market adjustment in the 6.4–6.7% range and a 3% merit pool in the budget as presented.

Why it matters: commissioners said the choices affect the county’s ability to retain staff and the tax burden on residents. Commissioner Dorsey said the effect on taxpayers is a concern, noting that, “we're raising taxes 5.6% approximately on everybody over last year because that's the value of the property increase on average,” and warned that increases could push vulnerable homeowners toward homelessness. By contrast, other commissioners emphasized retention problems and the fiscal cost of catching up later.

Key facts - The budget discussion referenced a McGrath compensation study previously used to adjust pay; staff said the county set aside $3,000,000 to implement that study’s recommendations and that the consultant fee was about $50,000. Sarah said the McGrath work was prompted by recruitment and retention problems in specific departments, including the sheriff’s office. - Sarah told commissioners she consulted regional market data (the county receives market data from ESRI covering the Kansas City region) and noted area public employers’ planned increases, including the City of Lawrence’s planned 8% increase for 2026 and many Johnson County cities planning 4–6%. - The budget as presented includes a 3% merit pool; staff described the merit pool as separate from the market adjustments and said not all employees would receive the full merit amount.

Elected-official pay proposal Commissioner Dorsey proposed limiting raises for elected officials to 3% and freezing county-commissioner pay at current levels, framing the elected role in part as public service. He said: “I would recommend for electeds, we limit their increase to 3% and, freeze the county commission at current level.” Other commissioners pushed back, saying elected officials perform full-time work that should be competitive with comparable executive positions and that singling out elected positions could create equity and recruitment problems.

What happened next No formal action was taken. Commissioners asked staff to gather comparative data on county-commissioner pay from nearby jurisdictions (Johnson, Wyandotte, Shawnee, Riley, Sedgwick were mentioned) and to return that information during the next round of deliberations. Sarah and Jake were asked to provide those comparisons and any clarifying spreadsheets to commissioners before the next meeting.

Context and constraints Commissioners and staff repeatedly framed the discussion as a balancing act between limiting tax impacts on property owners and preserving recruitment and retention. Several commissioners said pausing market adjustments would likely create a larger, more expensive catch-up later. Commissioner Kelly said she did not support treating elected positions differently and worried about narrowing access to public office if pay were reduced.

Ending Commissioners left the item open for further information rather than making immediate changes to the proposed budget. Staff committed to supplying peer-county pay comparisons and the commission will re-open the matter as part of continued budget deliberations.