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Keith County sets elected‑official salaries, adopts COLA policy tied to IRS measure with 3% floor and 6% cap
Summary
The board set the elected-official baseline at $87,000, retained county attorney and sheriff multipliers (1.5× and 1.2× respectively), fixed deputies and surveyor percentages, approved a 65–85% deputy range and adopted an IRS COLA formula with a 3% minimum and 6% maximum for annual increases.
Keith County commissioners set the annual base salary for elected officials and adopted a structured approach to annual cost‑of‑living adjustments. After discussion of revenue projections, workload (including lake‑area service demands) and benchmark guidance, the board approved a base of $87,000 for elected officials.
The board kept longstanding percentage multipliers for several positions: county attorney at 150% (1.5×) of the base and sheriff at 120% (1.2×). County commissioners’ salaries were set at 50% of the base and the county surveyor at 25% of the base. Commissioners approved a deputy compensation range of 65%–85% of the elected‑official salary and set the election commissioner salary at $8,200 for 2026.
On annual increases the board adopted a COLA policy tied to the IRS COLA measure with a 3% floor and a 6% cap; the policy ties raises to the IRS/SSA COLA each year but prevents an increase below 3% or above 6%. Commissioners said the approach balances competitiveness with budget discipline and asked staff to prepare resolution language and to circulate the finalized salary resolutions for signatures. The motions were approved by roll‑call votes recorded in the minutes.
