Page County supervisors decide to handle elected-official pay this year after discussion on compensation board

The Page County Board of Supervisors discussed whether to re-establish a county compensation board after a change in state law. Supervisors and several elected officials and community members told the board that the timeline to assemble and support a volunteer compensation board this year was too short.

Speakers raised two recurring concerns: volunteers on a compensation board would be under time pressure to collect comparative salary data, and the state law changes remove some former protections that separated elected-official pay decisions from the board’s direct control. Charles Long of the County Attorney’s Office and Brenda (identified in the record as “science reporter”) both said the county could reasonably have supervisors evaluate pay this year and revisit the compensation-board option in a future year.

Sheriff Charles McCallum, identified as the county’s new sheriff, supported supervisors making the decisions this year and urged cooperation among elected officials. Several supervisors said they will collect budget and salary figures from elected departments, meet with officeholders and reconvene to determine any pay adjustments. The board did not adopt a formal resolution during the meeting.

Supervisors said staff will provide wage and insurance figures and that elected officials will be invited to present supporting data. The board characterized the outcome as an operational decision for the board of supervisors for the current year and indicated the county may revisit reinstating a compensation board in 2025 or later.

The discussion included no formal vote to dissolve or to re-establish a compensation board; transcript remarks indicate the board’s working preference this year is to have supervisors, not a separate volunteer compensation board, handle compensation decisions.