Bonner County delays final approval of new compensation policy after debate over chief‑deputy pay method

Bonner County Human Resources proposed a rewritten compensation policy to move the county from a pay-band system toward a grade-and-step structure and to clarify how elected officials compensate chief deputies. After an extended discussion about chief‑deputy payouts and performance evaluation language, commissioners voted to send the draft policy back to HR for revisions and to return it at the next business meeting.

Alicia Clark, Bonner County HR director, told the board the policy rewrite followed a workshop on Oct. 24 and that the changes were reviewed by auditing, legal and risk. Clark said the major shift was replacing pay bands with a grade-and-step structure and cleaning up rules around chief deputy compensation and activation.

Commissioners and public commenters focused on a proposed change to chief‑deputy compensation. Clark said the practice had been a $400 stipend paid when a chief deputy was activated; the draft policy proposed converting that to an annualized additional pay code worth roughly $5,200 per year for each chief deputy, which would make the amount effectively part of yearly pay rather than a situational stipend. Clark said county HR had polled comparable counties and consulted the Association of Idaho Counties (AIC); “the majority of them actually don’t do an additional stipend,” she said, but practices varied.

County legal counsel Bill Wilson explained phrasing in the draft giving the county flexibility to change compensation: “That specific phrase is something that I worked on with Alicia because…we want to give ourselves that freedom, but we don't want to just make the decision,” he said, referring to language that Bonner County reserves the right to change compensation “for any legitimate business reason.” Wilson characterized “legitimate business reason” as a middle ground intended to allow adjustments tied to market conditions while retaining a good‑faith standard.

Several commissioners sought more evidence before converting the stipend into guaranteed annual pay. One commissioner pointed out county comparisons showing Bonner County’s chief deputies were already paid higher than most peer counties and asked for clearer data justifying a $5,200 annual increase. HR said three of four elected officials with chief deputies responded that they supported an increase in the $2–$3 per hour range; HR said it “met in the middle” to propose the amount.

Commissioners also raised language in the policy that currently “encourages” performance reviews; several urged making reviews mandatory so step-and-grade movements would be supported by documented evaluations. The board discussed timing and budget impacts and HR told commissioners that any compensation changes would not take effect until Oct. 1 (the start of the next fiscal cycle) if the board approved them, to allow departments to budget accordingly.

After public comment and additional clarifying questions about benchmarking, activation rules and pay-code mechanics, Commissioner Corn moved to return the draft policy to HR for revision and to bring an updated version back at the next business meeting; the motion passed on a roll call vote.

The board directed HR to: (1) correct typographical errors identified in the draft, (2) clarify whether chief‑deputy compensation will be a recurring pay code or a stipend and how activation works, (3) change language so that performance evaluations are required where the policy depends on them, and (4) provide the underlying market comparison data and a clearer budget timing explanation for any proposed pay increases.