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Woodbury County receives compensation board report; board approves 3% wage plan for nonunion staff
Summary
After hearing a report from the county compensation board, the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to plug a 3% wage-plan increase for nonunion employees into the fiscal 2026 budget and to receive the compensation board's recommended schedule for elected officials.
The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Feb. 24 to receive a compensation-board report and to include a 3% wage-plan increase for nonunion county employees in the county's fiscal 2026 budget.
Dan Lynn, representing the county compensation board, told the board the panel reviewed Iowa Code and updated salary surveys and other benchmarks when framing pay recommendations. "We did decide based on Iowa code to look at everything from the updated salary survey report," Lynn said, listing factors such as cost-of-living adjustments and comparisons to neighboring states.
The compensation board recommended several specific changes for elected officials: a 4.5% increase for the treasurer, a 6.5% increase for the county attorney, a 4% increase for supervisors, and restoring the board chair stipend to $7,000 (it had been $3,500 in the last fiscal year). Lynn described the recommendation as the compensation board's advice to the supervisors, not an automatic pay change for all elected officials.
Chair (speaker 1) emphasized that, aside from the sheriff (covered by the "back the blue" statute noted in the compensation-board review), the compensation board's suggestions are advisory and that the Board of Supervisors must vote to adopt any pay changes. The board moved to receive the compensation schedule and later adjusted the nonunion wage plan in the budget discussion; both motions passed 4-0 (motions moved/seconded as recorded by the meeting minutes).
Why it matters: the compensation-board recommendations set the parameters staff used to prepare the county's maximum-levy and budget worksheets. Adopting a higher wage-plan percentage affects reserve planning and publication deadlines for the budget notice, which the board also discussed during the meeting.
The board recorded the motion to receive the compensation board schedule and the subsequent motion to place a 3% wage increase into the budget; both actions were approved unanimously. The county will finalize levy and reserve decisions in subsequent budget hearings and must meet statutory publication and hearing deadlines for the proposed levy.
