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Porter County council adopts 2026 salary ordinance after 6–1 vote including $2,000 raises for employees and elected officials
Summary
After debate over whether elected officials should receive the increases, the Porter County council voted 6–1 to adopt a 2026 salary ordinance that applies a $2,000 raise to county employees and — following council action — to elected officials, with opponents calling the move excessive for part-time elected positions.
The Porter County Council voted 6–1 to adopt a 2026 salary ordinance that includes $2,000 raises for county employees and, after debate, applies that increase to elected officials as well. The council took the final roll call after discussion and announced the motion carried.
Council members framed the item as the result of a difficult budgeting process that nevertheless left room to increase pay for county staff. Committee member (S2) commended department heads for working with council members and said the added pay reflected that cooperation: "credit to the department heads and their employees for working with us to be able to get to where we're at today," the committee member said.
Opponents pressed that extending the $2,000 increase to elected officials was inappropriate. Committee member (S8) argued the raise was disproportionately large for lower-paid elected offices, saying, "And $2,000 for somebody that's making $23,000, it's almost a 10% raise," and noted concern over optics given earlier warnings about the county's finances.
Clerk (S4) recorded the final roll call on the ordinance as follows: Andy Botzk — Yes; Redstone — Yes; Michelle Dares — Yes; Andy Bodenak — Yes; Jeremy Rebus — No; Greg Sims — Yes; Mike Rick Perry — Yes. Chair (S1) announced the motion carried 6–1.
The ordinance was presented as part of the council's budget-adoption work; council members noted that, technically, some steps will be revisited in January to implement transfers and finalize budget documents. No external approvals were cited. The council moved next to the public-comment portion of the meeting.
