Board declines to disturb steep wage hikes

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners Cornel Rasor and Lewis Rich declined on Tuesday to rescind hefty raises given to three deputies in the clerk’s office.

Commissioner Mike Nielsen moved to undo the raises after discovering in state law and the Idaho Constitution that the board has the ultimate approval on the deputies’ compensation.

The board had been acting under the impression that it could only acknowledge the salary increases implemented by another elected official.

“It’s very apparent to me that the county commissioners, by both the constitution and statute, are required to approve — not acknowledge,” said Nielsen.

Nielsen said the lowest raise boosts one deputy clerk’s annual salary by $9,555, while the highest increases another clerk’s salary by $12,085.

Nielsen contends Clerk Marie Scott proposed in budget workshops implementing a $28,000 tax increase to pay for her personnel.

The request was denied, although Nielsen said Scott decided to use money distributed by the Idaho Secretary of State to conduct elections to cover her salary and free up funding for the deputies’ raises.

Scott countered that she was following the board’s direction to all department heads: Salary increases are only allowed if a department’s operating costs were reduced.

Scott added that the raises at issue were presented to the board with salary sheets identifying the changes.

“There was no attempt to hide anything. You had those S(salary) sheets in front of you,” said Scott, who portrayed Nielsen’s move as a political attack on her office.

Nielsen, however, pointed out that the salary adjustments were not submitted with the standard approval form or justification that the raises were warranted. The raises also were not reviewed by the county’s Job & Evaluation Committee.

Other department heads, such as Treasurer Cheryl Piehl and Assessor Jerry Clemons, followed the policy closely.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler was not privy to the policy when he proposed raises for his personnel, but backed up his request with performance evaluations, comparisons and other justifications.

Both Rich and Rasor said they were aware of the raises when they adopted the $60 million budget last month.

“We approved those pay sheets whether we like it or not,” said Rasor.

Nielsen said he approved a gross budget authority for the clerk’s office while opposing the raises Scott proposed.

“We didn’t approve everything individually,” he said.

Nielsen’s motion to rescind the raises found no support and it died on a 2-1 vote. The board did agree to firm up the county’s policy for salary adjustments.