The Cole County Salary Commission decided to leave base salaries for incoming officeholders at their current levels in 2017, and to take the same percentage increase of any cost-of-living increase given to all other county employees.
Monday's decisions came after a meeting last month in which the commission looked at attempting to equalize the salaries of elected officials, in light of legal issues over whether they should have received raises in the past.
Those voting to leave the base salary alone were Auditor Kristen Berhorst, Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman, Collector Larry Vincent, County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer, Public Administrator Marilyn Schmutzler, Recorder of Deeds Ralph Bray, Sheriff Greg White, Eastern District Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher, Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle and Prosecutor Mark Richardson.
Those voting for the COLA percentage increase were Berhorst, Bushman, Vincent, Korsmeyer, Schmutzler, Bray, White and Richardson, with Hoelscher and Scheperle voting against it.
Assessor Chris Estes abstained from both votes, and Treasurer Eric Peters did not attend the meeting.
Though voting members of the commission, the sheriff's and prosecutor's salaries are set by different statutes and not by the commission.
When Cole County became a first-class county in 1997, state law required the creation of a salary commission, which meets every two years to vote on whether to increase salaries for those who will take an office after the November election.
Cole County's salary commission voted in 2013 to give elected officeholders a cost-of-living raise - if all other county employees got one - which they did.
In an earlier opinion, county Prosecutor Mark Richardson said his interpretation of the law is the salary commission only can decide if elected officials should:
• Get a raise.
• Get a cost-of-living increase if all county employees get one.
• Not get a raise - but that would require a two-thirds majority of the commission members.
County Collector Larry Vincent, who was elected chair of this year's salary commission, said after looking at minutes from past commission meetings it appeared there were salary commission errors over the years - but, based on state statutes, there is nothing that could be done about the past.
In 1996, prior to Cole County becoming a first-class county - but knowing it was going to happen in 1997 - the salary commission met for the purpose of setting salaries starting in 1997.
The intent was to equalize salaries for the assessor, auditor, collector, clerk, public administrator and recorder at $45,000; the treasurer and the presiding commissioner at $35,000; and eastern and western district commissioners at $33,000.
Those changes were to affect the offices up for election in 1996 first, then the other offices elected in 1998.
However, the salaries never were equalized in 1999.
"From looking at the records, the vote was for the first six elected offices listed above to have the same pay schedule for at least two years of every four-year election cycle," Vincent said. "In 1997, the assessor and public administrator started at $45,000 and during the next two years received 3 percent COLAs.
"In 1999, the auditor, clerk, collector and recorder started at $45,000. Since the 3 percent COLAs they received the prior two years only brought their salaries up to $43,489.26, they lost those two years of COLAs ($2,461.66) when their salaries went to $45,000."
Vincent added: "Any COLAs since then have widened the gap between the assessor, public administrator and those other four elected offices so much so that it is now more than $3,000 a year.
"Had they truly equalized salaries as intended in 1999, the auditor, clerk, collector and recorder would have been paid the same as the assessor and public administrator in 1999 and any COLAs since then would have kept the salaries equal.
"The overall effect is that since 1997, the offices of assessor and public administrator have been paid about $50,000 more than the offices of auditor, clerk, collector and recorder. By 2019 that will probably exceed $60,000."
Vincent also pointed out that Cole County became a first-class county on Jan. 1, 1997. A change in the statutes went into effect in August 1997 that made all salary increases become effective immediately for all elected offices when going to a first-class county instead of at the election cycle.
"Evidently someone brought it to their attention that you couldn't equalize the salaries if it was done on the election cycle," Vincent said.
An attempt was made again in 2004 with the passage of Senate Bill 782, which specifically gave Cole County a one-time shot at equalizing elected officials' pay. A salary commission meeting was held in December 2004, and the equalized salaries were approved by the majority of the salary commission, based on that new law.
In 2005, the salary commission met again, and then-Auditor Jim LePage made a motion to rescind the motion passed at the 2004 salary meeting.
Bill Tackett, then-prosecuting attorney, said the salary commission had the authority to act, and LePage then made a motion to set the base salaries for all elected officials as what they were being paid in 2005, starting with those elected in 2006.
That motion passed.
Former Eastern District Commissioner Pee Wee Forck later filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration whether the salary commission's votes taken on Dec. 14, 2004, and Nov. 28, 2005, were appropriate or legal.
Then-Circuit Judge Richard Callahan ruled that the first 2005 salary commission motion was void for three reasons:
• There was no statutory authority to meet for the purpose of reconsidering a previous salary commission's decision.
• The motion that was made was not in one of three forms prescribed by statute.
• Since the effect of the motion was to reduce salaries, it failed to receive the required two-thirds vote.
Callahan also ruled that the second motion was void for similar reasons, was not in the form required by state law and, also, resulted in a pay decrease for some elected officials.
Judge Callahan then ruled on the 2004 salary commission meeting, determining that those votes were void because the bill allowing Cole County officials to equalize their salaries was an unconstitutional "special law" that applied only to Cole County and not all first-class counties.
The result of Callahan's ruling was that the pay for those six offices would not be equalized. The assessor and public administrator remained being paid several thousand dollars more each year than the clerk, collector, auditor and recorder.
Vincent said if they wanted to equalize those six offices as originally intended, the commission probably could accomplish that by 2019.
He suggested that the salary commission consider voting to take the same COLA as employees receive.
Then, when the commission meets in 2017, if a majority of the salary commission is in agreement, the offices of auditor, clerk, collector and recorder would receive a pay raise that would equalize their salary with the assessor and public administrator.
In future years, if the salary commission agrees to take the same COLA as employees, those salaries would remain equal.
That is how Boone County has handled it since the 1999 elections and their salary commission meetings - voting to affirm every two years the decision made by the 1997 salary commission.
"I'm not advocating for an increase, but the decision we made today (Monday) still doesn't take care of equalizing the pay," Vincent said. "At some point we are going to have to address an increase in elected officials' salaries."