New legislation taking effect Jan. 1 will mean pay raises are coming for state and local public officials, but La Plata County commissioners have different perspectives on the timing and appropriateness of the raise.
Senate Bill 288, introduced late in the 2015 legislative session, was pushed through last spring and will bump some elected officials’ pay by more than 30 percent.
The governor, lieutenant governor, lawmakers, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer will benefit from the new bill, as well as local governing bodies.
In La Plata County, the bill equates to a 30 percent increase from $72,500 to $94,250 for Commissioners Gwen Lachelt and Julie Westendorff starting in 2017, which will mark 10 years since the last raise in 2007 for local officials. Commissioner Brad Blake, because he is newer to the commission, will not receive his raise until 2019.
Though the commission sent lawmakers a letter of support for the raise in April and received positive feedback in several public meetings about the legislative proposal, Blake said he now has concerns about the pay increase coming at a time when county revenue is taking a hit as the value of natural gas declines.
“My position definitely changed because of the possible downturn in revenue for the county and the costs for the county going up,” Blake said Thursday. “I would like to see a smaller increase, though I felt all along that some pay increases were needed for public officials.”
For example, the county sheriff, who is elected, is paid less than the undersheriff, who is not elected and has received pay increases in past years.
But pay differences like these are why Lachelt said the raises are critical.
“There will always be local control in any budget year, and commissioners could decide to not go with the legislators’ recommendation for increases,” Lachelt said. “But the feedback we got was if we want to continue recruiting qualified people for county positions, we need to go with their recommendation.”
Westendorff agreed.
“These are jobs that are more than full time,” she said. “We won’t have qualified candidates if the salary is not commensurate with what the work is.”
Blake estimated commissioners average 40 to 50 hours work a week, sometimes more.
Raises at the local level are calculated considering multiple criteria, including county size; the sheriff is looking at a pay increase from $87,700 to $118,616 – more than 35 percent – in 2019. Other officials’ salaries also will receive a 35 percent bump, including the clerk, assessor and treasurer.
It is possible for local governments to request lesser or no pay increase, but that would require another bill proposal in the next legislative session.
Though the county has determined the raises will have a negligible impact to the overall budget, some locals have shared their discontent online.
“This presents a test in integrity,” Rex Romanus of Bayfield posted under an article The Durango Herald published on the subject in August. “If they are truly unwilling to accept the raise, the only honorable thing to do is for them to take that 30 percent and put it into an account only to be used to offset everyone’s increases in property taxes.”
Others protested for raises for nonelected county employees as well.
jpace@durangoherald.com
More new laws
Several new state laws will take effect on New Year’s Day. In addition to a bill that will raise salaries for local and state elected officials, a new piece of legislation now requires a report to be filed within 24 hours when youth in state custody go missing.
Under this legislation, the agency responsible for the child must immediately report the disappearance to law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Law enforcement will then notify the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
A bill also passed modifying the tax levied on liquefied petroleum gas. Under House Bill 1228, the special fuel tax applies only to motor vehicles and not propane sold in the state for other purposes, such as heating homes and businesses.
The passage of Senate Bill 1153 gives the State Court Administrator’s Office sole oversight of court-appointed Child and Family Investigators. This responsibility was formerly shared between SCAO and the Office of the Child’s Representative. The bill was proposed to streamline the supervision of investigators.
Under Senate Bill 090, temporary vehicle license plates now must meet the same requirements as permanent plates.
jpace@durangoherald.com
