Public hearing in Vernal draws strong opposition to proposed pay increases for Uintah County elected officials

The Uintah County Commission held a public hearing Sept. 16 in Vernal to hear comments on a request that would allow pay increases of up to 15% for full‑time elected officials and appointed executive officers, county staff said. The hearing, convened in the commission chambers and recorded under Utah law, was explicitly framed as a listening session; commissioners said no decisions would be made at the meeting.

County Human Resources staff described benchmarking work that used TechNet and salary data from the Utah Association of Counties (UAC) to establish market ranges. The HR director said elected officials have not been included on a salary schedule update since February 2015 and that the office had prepared a timeline of salary changes from January 2015 through January 2025. The clerk auditor provided clarifying corrections during the presentation and staff told attendees that an explanation of past increases…