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Lincoln County commissioners direct staff to produce salary scenarios, signal 3% baseline option
Summary
After reviewing a NACO salary study and budget constraints, Lincoln County commissioners directed staff to prepare multiple salary-resolution scenarios for elected officials—using 2026 as a base and including an 8.27% option and a 3% option—and indicated preference for a 3% baseline as a negotiating starting point.
Lincoln County commissioners spent an extended portion of their December 2025 meeting discussing proposed salary resolutions for elected officials covering the 2027'2030 term and directed staff to prepare comparative spreadsheets showing multiple scenarios.
Commissioners reviewed a recent recommendation from the Nebraska Association of County Officials (NACO) salary committee and expressed concern that an initial one-year jump in the proposal would be difficult to justify given county budget "slice" constraints and uncertain state funding. Julie Stinger, Lincoln County assessor, urged commissioners to view recommendations across the multi-year study rather than as a single-year spike: "If you divide that increase over that 4 year period ... then, you're looking at like, it was a 300 and some dollar increase per person per year," Stinger said, arguing the multi-year context reduces the single-year appearance of a large increase.
Board members debated two broad approaches: a smaller, budget-friendly percentage increase and a larger adjustment intended to make elected-official pay more comparable to peer counties. After discussion, the board directed the clerk's office to produce multiple spreadsheets showing: the 2026 base, an 8.27% adjustment option, scenarios applying a 3% annual increase, and additional lines showing how duty-based supplements (for example, jail administration or election responsibilities) would affect totals. Chair Michaela Wheeler summarized the board's immediate direction: "We're going with 3." Commissioners said the worksheets should be ready for review at the next meeting so the board can adopt a final resolution before statutorily required deadlines.
No formal salary resolution was adopted at the meeting; the board gave staff direction to return with detailed, comparable figures so commissioners can finalize the resolution in a subsequent meeting.
