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Commissioners approve $0.76 hourly raise for elected officials after rejecting 2.9% COLA
Summary
After debate over a 2.9% cost-of-living increase, the Daniels County board voted to adopt a flat $0.76-per-hour raise for elected officials; commissioners said staff and hourly raises will be discussed separately as part of the budget process.
The Daniels County Board of Commissioners voted June 16 to raise elected officials’ pay by $0.76 an hour, after a motion to apply a 2.9% cost-of-living adjustment failed. Chair (speaker 1) called the motions to the floor and oversaw roll-call voting during the meeting.
Commissioners had debated whether to use a percentage (2.9%) or the equivalent flat cent amount. Speaker 2, who distributed a spreadsheet for the discussion, framed the meeting as focused on officials’ pay, saying, "We're only talking today about elected officials, not the hourly." After the 2.9% motion was seconded, it did not carry; a later motion for a $0.76 raise was moved and approved by the board. Commissioners said the decision leaves time to assess staff and hourly pay during the formal budget process.
The board and staff discussed budget timing and how mill-levy and other revenues factor into raises, noting the county does not finalize its mill levy until August. Commissioners asked staff to return with numbers and options for the county workforce before any decisions on non-elected employees were finalized.
The action was procedural: the board adopted the raise and directed staff to model effects across the fiscal-year budgets and on related statutory pay relationships (for example, deputy pay formulas linked to elected officials’ base pay).
