Monday, the Mason County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials set the salaries for the Assessor, Auditor, Clerk, Coroner, County Commissioners, Treasurer and Sheriff for the next two years.
In January, the Mason County Commissioners established the Salary Commission with the task of preparing a schedule of salaries for the seven electeds for 2025 and 2026.
The ten-member Salary Commission began meeting on March 26th, meeting weekly to determine appropriate compensation for the positions utilizing data that included salary information from comparable counties, Mason County Employee group wage increases, cost of living for state wide elected officials, the State’s Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, and inflation.
After five meetings, the Salary Commission decided to increase the annual salary for the Assessor, Auditor, Clerk, Coroner, County Commissioners, and Treasurer to an amount equal to the average of the median salary of the elected officials in comparable counties. This brings the annual salary for those positions up from the current $87,565 to $104,501 effective on January 1, 2025. However, those positions will received a salary increase effective May 1, 2024 which makes the annual salary this year $95,979.
The Sheriff’s salary was a bit more complicated. The Sheriff’s current salary, $160,226, is 5% higher than the Undersheriff and is higher than the salaries of sheriffs in most of the comparable counties. After much discussion, the Salary Commission decided to keep the Sheriff’s salary tied to the Undersheriff utilizing the highest salary step for the Undersheriff plus 5%. The resulting salary for the Sheriff is $164,232 effective January 1, 2025. The Sheriff does NOT get a salary increase in May as the other elected officials do.
There is a provision in the resolution establishing the Salary Commission that says a citizen can challenge these salary increases by referendum. That challenge must be filed within the next 30 days.
All meetings of the Salary Commission can be viewed on MasonWebTV Powered by HCC.
The Mason County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials consists of 10 members, four appointed by the Mason County Commissioners and six selected by lot draw of registered voters by the Mason County Auditor.
Commissioner Appointed
Jim Morrell
Matt Mallery
Mary Jo Cady
Jann Goodpastor
Appointed by Auditor Lot Draw
Devin Ferner
Braden Sisk
Brent Frahm
Richard Wilson
Roger Lewis
Leeland Wells