Woodbury County supervisors approve pay freeze, multiple loan hearings and departmental actions

The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on Feb. (meeting date not specified) voted on a series of routine and itemized measures, separating its own pay decisions from broader compensation-board recommendations, scheduling public hearings on capital loan notes and approving a variety of departmental and administrative requests.

The board voted to separate consideration of supervisor pay from recommendations for other elected officials (4–1) and then approved a motion to set supervisors' pay at a 0% increase for fiscal year 2025–26 while amending the chair stipend to $3,500 (5–0). Supervisor Martin Nelson introduced the separation motion, arguing the board should “lead by example.” The board’s amended main motion — to keep supervisors at a 0% increase and set the chair stipend at $3,500 effective July 1 — passed unanimously.

In other formal actions the board: - Approved consent-agenda items 3–9 by a single motion, covering minutes from the Feb. 11, 2025 meeting; claims; appointments to the Community Action Agency board; an elections appointment; personnel actions in Human Resources; and several property-tax refunds and abatements. Specific consent items were approved unanimously. (Details: minutes approval, appointments of BB Juran and Daryl Bullock to the Community Action Agency board for three-year terms beginning 04/01/2025; appointment of Hannah Reinders to the Witt Director District 3; human resources memorandum and hiring authorizations; property tax refunds of $373.59, $859 and $3,702; abatements for JT Lakeforce MHC LLC and Evergreen Village; and receipt of the recorder’s third-quarter financial report.) - Received the Civil Service Commission annual report and the compensation board’s salary schedule and recommendation (both received by unanimous vote). - Authorized the chair to sign canvas sheets for a Monona County drainage election (routine) and renewed the recorder’s online index book system (renewal approved unanimously; the system provides searchable records back to 1920 and has an increased cost). - Approved a 2025 CIP project for courthouse clerk’s northwest office repairs in the amount of $78,833 (project passed unanimously). - Approved the engagement letter with bond counsel (Aller & Cooney) for the FY25 capital improvement loan and passed two resolutions fixing public hearings on March 4, 2025 — one at 4:40 p.m. for up to $700,000 in general obligation capital loan notes and a separate hearing at 4:45 p.m. for up to $500,000 (the latter covers demolition of the LAC and must be presented separately by law). Both resolutions passed unanimously. - Approved a 10% salary increase for the juvenile-detention director position effective Feb. 18 (5–0). Supervisor Matthew Young moved the increase, citing comparables and the incumbent’s duties and revenue-generation for the county.

Why it matters: the board’s decision to separate its pay from other elected officials and to hold itself to a 0% increase while fixing the chair stipend changes the county’s short-term payroll outlay and sets a precedent for how supervisors will be compensated relative to other elected offices. The public hearings set for March 4 will provide formal community review before the county issues capital loan notes that would fund multiple FY25 CIP projects.

The board took its votes during the regular meeting after receiving reports and presentations from several county offices and departments. Several motions were unanimous; more contested items (the separation) passed by recorded tallies.