Washington County salary panel debates which outside jurisdictions to include as pay comparators; Portland under consideration

The Washington County Salary Commission spent much of its June 3 meeting narrowing a long list of external jurisdictions to use as comparators for recommended pay changes. Commissioners discussed population, budget size and governance structures as selection criteria, debated whether to include the City of Portland and flagged Clark County (Wash.) as an outlier that may be excluded.

Commissioners said they want comparators that reflect jurisdictions with elected county-style governing bodies and similar populations. Members identified a core set of neighboring Oregon and Washington counties for further analysis and agreed to remove some smaller jurisdictions that are much smaller in population or that use materially different compensation processes. The commission asked staff and the commissioners who compiled the spreadsheet to clean and reformat the list so it’s easier to review.

Why…