Griggs County Commission sets new tax director’s starting salary at $45,000

The Griggs County Commission voted June 22 to set the starting salary for its new tax director, Darcy, at $45,000 after a brief debate over budget capacity and training expectations.

The candidate countered the commission’s budgeted $39,000 offer with a $45,000 request. Commissioner Lauren moved to approve the higher starting salary; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. During debate commissioners discussed negotiating with the county’s current contractor for tax work and exploring reserves or department budgets to cover the roughly $6,000 increase.

Why it matters: The tax director is a department-head–level post and commissioners said offering a competitive local salary is important to attract and retain someone who will complete required training and remain in the community.

Discussion details: Commissioners noted the position was budgeted at $39,000 (about $20 an hour) and that $45,000 would amount to roughly $23 an hour. Some commissioners suggested starting the hire at the higher pay now and withholding further raises after training; the candidate (Darcy) said she was content with the $45,000 starting figure and would not immediately ask for another increase after training. The commission discussed whether to draw on reserves (a reserve balance cited during the meeting as roughly $12 million) or to find savings elsewhere, and staff said they would attempt to negotiate with the current contractor (Linda) before dipping into reserves.

Quotes: "I would make a motion then that we pay her the 45," Commissioner Lauren said when placing the motion. Darcy responded during the discussion, "No. I'd be fine with that."

Procedure and next steps: The motion passed by voice vote; commissioners said they will follow up on where the additional funds will come from and will attempt to negotiate with the existing contractor to reduce costs. The commission completed the hire and congratulated Darcy on the appointment.

Note on names and numbers: The candidate’s name appears in the meeting transcript with a variant spelling ("Darce" in one turn); the commission’s discussion consistently referred to the candidate as Darcy and this article uses that normalized spelling. Several budget figures were discussed in shorthand during the meeting; where exact account-line detail was not provided in the transcript this article reports balances and amounts as described by commissioners (for example, the reserve balance was cited in the meeting in approximate terms).