County commissioners set salaries for elected officials, for 2027-2030

YORK – After hours of discussion and debate, the York County Commissioners have set the salaries for all the county officials for the years of 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.

​This must be done right before each election cycle, every four years, so those who are running for the elected official seats know what the position pays, before they file to run.
The county board members have said for a number of years how they wanted to get the salaries to a higher level over the course of time, as they had fallen short of other comparable positions in both the private sector and in county government around the state.
“We had a good, lengthy discussion during the last meeting about this,” said Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz during this week’s meeting. “Since then, I’ve also had the opportunity to talk with county officials and others – we will see where this goes this week.”
The board had already decided to not raise the salary for the county commissioners – that will remain the same through the end of 2030.
“There are places where county wages have significantly increased over the past four years while other wages in the private sector haven’t increased, just something I keep in mind,” Grotz said.
There were numbers suggested, with Obermier saying, “A lot of those numbers are right in line with what we talked about last time. And those are healthy increases for some, but that is kind of the world we live in. The attorneys (county attorney and public defender) have to be licensed attorneys and we know other counties struggle to even have attorneys live in their jurisdictions.”
“My question is the trajectory of increases and how they would continue,” Grotz said. “I don’t mind the idea of tying annual increases to certain indexes (such as cost of living increases).”
It was noted how some significant increases – like that for the position of sheriff – would be “doable, as the county had unused budgeted money left over.”
“Well, I will repeat what I said earlier, we get what we pay for,” said Commissioner Andy Bowman.
“I looked at the city’s step system pay scales, just to find some sort of comparisons, and we can’t tie ours to years of service the way they do because these are all elected offices and we don’t know who will be serving in these offices,” Grotz said.
“I also want to applaud this board for doing this, having all of this discussion in public,” Obermier said. “I saw coverage, an article, about how a county did all this, had all these conversations, in closed sessions which I don’t think is right.”
Historically, the county has paid the county clerk, assessor, treasurer and clerk of the district court the same amount and many counties do the same. Grotz asked if any of those officials wanted to speak with Assessor Kurt Bulgrin noting there are certification requirements for the assessor. Clerk Mary Melby noted how the clerk oversees three offices.
It was also noted how the Seward County board members have been considering extra pay for the assessor and clerk.
“My feeling is that when you file for that job, you know the requirements and the pay, you see the job and the compensation when you file, you know what it entails and you make the educated decision to run,” Obermier said.
Bowman said he thought the assessor and clerk should be paid slightly more “as they have extra duties and aren’t contained in a 40-hour work week. They also deal with a lot of extra stress and extra workload.”
“Well, we also have to remember how the treasurer has to collect all the money for the county and the clerk of the district court deals with heated people all the time,” Obermier said. “They all have very stressful jobs.”
“I’m not saying that at all, I’m just saying the clerk and the assessor have extra duties,” Bowman said.
“And I didn’t want to belittle anyone has everyone works very hard,” Bulgrin said.
When they discussed the pay for the public defender, they considered several levels of higher pay.
“The numbers are pretty high,” Grotz said.
“The reason, though, is that the public defender can save the county quite a bit of money so that is a consideration,” said Commissioner Joe Burgess.
Obermier asked York County Attorney Gary Olson’s opinion on the matter – he responded, “There has to be incentive for a good person with experience to come into the position of public defender and I think $115,000 is a good start. Someone could look at that and say it’s not that bad.”
“I hear what is being said, but remember that’s a $22,500 jump,” Grotz said.
“I know that’s a tough number to swallow but we will need a number which will get some attention,” Obermier said. “I know it’s tough to do some of these.”
They also had a lengthy conversation about the sheriff’s pay, with the figure first starting at $115,000 a year.
“That’s completely underwater compared to what the city pays for their police positions,” Bowman said.
Grotz noted how the pay range for the police chief for the city of York is between $92,000 and $123,000. “But we also have to remember how the police chief does not have a jail to administer.”
“This is another position that is so specific,” Obermier said. “I think $115,000 is a nice start and then we need to look at bumping it up over four years. The budget for that department is $1.4 million so this won’t swamp it.”
They also had extensive conversation about the pay for the county attorney.
“It takes a lot of money to run a county and this one is viewed in many ways from the outside, but we see what this position does,” Obermier said. “The $130,000 figure is close, maybe it needs to be $135,000. I know the increases are big but we are making the hill not as big to climb in the future to get to where it needs to be.”
“I’m liking your logic,” Bowman said to Obermier. “We walked about experience and we certainly need that due to all the position handles, to keep us moving in the right direction.”
After all the conversations and motions (some not receiving seconds and some failing), the commissioners eventually set the salaries.
The county commissioners’ salaries will remain at $26,500 as they are now. The commissioner chairman will be paid $27,700, as the chairman has extra duties.
The surveyor is currently being paid $18,000 a year. That will be raised to $20,000 a year.
The assessor, clerk, treasurer and clerk of the district court currently are paid $76,500. In 2027, they will be paid $78,250. In 2028, they will be paid $80,000. In 2029, they will be paid $81,750. In 2030, they will be paid $83,500.
The public defender is currently paid $92,500. In 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, the public defender will be paid $115,000 each year.
The sheriff is currently paid $92,500. In 2027, the salary will go to $117,500. In 2028, the salary will go to $120,000. In 2029, the salary will go to $122,500. In 2030, the salary will go to $125,000.
The county attorney is currently paid $112,500. In 2027, the pay will go to $127,500. In 2028, the pay will go to $130,000. In 2029, the salary will go to $132,500. And in 2030, the salary will go to $135,000.