By Colorado statute, county commissions are required to decide if elected officials in their districts will get a 10 percent, 20 percent, or 30 percent raise, or no raise. Salaries and benefits are paid out of the county budget, and reach $9 million to $10 million per year out of a $36 million budget.<\/p>\n
The raises would apply to elected officials voted into office at the next election.<\/p>\n
Listed with their current salaries, the affected positions are: clerk and recorder ($58,500), county commission ($58,500), sheriff ($76,000), county assessor ($58,000), county treasurer ($58,500), coroner ($33,100), and surveyor ($3,000).<\/p>\n
The district attorney ($130,000) is not included in the raise decision because the state pays 80 percent of his salary.<\/p>\n
Commissioners Larry Don Suckla and Keenan Ertel voted against the raises.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think elected officials should vote on a raise \u2013 it should be the taxpayers\u2019 decision,\u201d Suckla said. \u201cServing in elected office should be to help the county, not for the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commissioners worried that voting in wage increases could come back to bite them when budgets tighten up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the CO2 fields taper off, and the tax revenues go down, increased salaries could be a burden to the county,\u201d said Ertel. \u201cWhen you factor in benefits, the positions are well-compensated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioner James Lambert said he didn\u2019t think the commissioner position needed a raise, but he was concerned about the relatively low wages of the clerk and coroner. He voted against the motion to deny the raise.<\/p>\n
Despite the no vote on a 10-30 percent raise, state law does require elected officials get an annual raise based on inflation. The raise, calculated from the consumer price index on the Front Range, is typically 2-3 percent.<\/p>\n