Once again, Cole County residents have witnessed the biennial hand-wringing session when county officials gather to set their own salaries.
And, as they did in 2013, the Cole County Salary Commission decided to forgo pay raises but to accept cost-of-living (COLA) increases given to other county employees.
The commission includes the 12 elected officials, but one abstained and another was absent. The vote to leave salaries unchanged was unanimous. The vote to accept COLA increases was approved with two dissenting votes.
We have no quarrel with the decisions.
Once again, however, heartburn was generated more by the issue of equalizing salaries than by the question of raising them.
Some background is helpful.
State law requires first-class counties to create a salary commission that meets every two years to decide salaries for incoming, elected office-holders.
In anticipation of the county's advancement in 1997 to first-class status, records show county officials in 1996 met with the intent to equalize salaries for six county office-holders: assessor, auditor, collector, clerk, public administrator and recorder. Those offices are largely administrative and not affected by other statutes.
The intent of the 1996 panel, however, was not fulfilled by a later salary commission, and subsequent COLA increases have widened the inequity among those salaries.
Two observations arise.
First, we prefer the existing process. We believe elected officials should set their own salaries; they are elected by and accountable to the people. The practice used by other governmental bodies tying salaries to automatic increase or increases elsewhere allows elected office-holders to distance themselves from the pay raises they enjoy.
Second, we question the perpetual push to equalize salaries. What is the rationale for equalization? Do all six offices require equal levels of competency, education, experience and time?
Salary uniformity may spare the elected county officials from dealing with resentments and discord when they gather as the salary commission, but is it justifiable for taxpayers?
The salaries for county offices historically have not deterred candidates from seeking them. County offices serve differing functions and, as in any job, the salary should be commensurate with the task - no more, no less.