Legislation would end long spell of no pay raises for county elected officials in Nevada
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(Photo: Alejandra Rubio/Nevada Current)
State lawmakers are considering legislation that sets out a five-year plan to give pay raises to elected county officials, who haven't had a raise since 2018.
On Tuesday, Sen. Skip Daly (D-Sparks), who sponsored Senate Bill 116, told members of the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs that pay for county elected officers is set by statute. The bill, Daly said, would 'set a chain of events in place so they won't have to come back to the Legislature,' by establishing automatic annual raises that would end in 2030.
The raises, which would take effect in July, would allow officials to use one of two formulas to elevate the pay for the elected district attorney, sheriff, county clerk, county assessor, county recorder, county treasurer and public administrator of each county. County commission salaries would be set by a schedule based on each county's size and population.
For all but county commissioners, the base rate would be established at 3% more than the salary of the highest paid-employee under the elected official's supervision, or by a formula that compounds the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index from fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2024, and adds it to the official's 2018 salary.
The increase would adjust base rates to more closely reflect the market, Daly said.
'It will make it easier to attract more qualified people to run for these positions, and it will make it easier to attract qualified subordinate support staff,' he added, noting that some deputy assessors and others required to possess a high degree of specialized knowledge, earn more than their elected counterparts and would currently have to take pay cuts if elected to replace them.
'If any of you know anything about property taxes, it's not easy,' Daly said. 'There's a lot of calculations, and you have to have qualified people that can do that work.'
Employee raises, Daly noted, are subject to a pay range that would offer protections against an elected official handing out excessive raises in order to boost their own salary.
The legislation also allows county commissioners, at any time, to provide a 2% cost of living increase to all elected officials in the jurisdiction.
'We believe that there are additional guardrails in here for counties to not only bring equity of pay to county elected offices, but to allow for the Board of County Commissioners to adjust and respond to fiscal emergencies,' testified Vinson Guthreau, executive director of the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO).
Gov. Joe Lombardo, in 2022, his last year as sheriff of Clark County, earned total pay and benefits of $210,965.37, according to Transparent Nevada, which tracks government salaries.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson earned just over $322,000 in 2022, the last year for which records are available.
The legislation also sets salaries for county commissioners throughout the state.
Clark County commissioners currently earn an average of $93,938. The average Washoe County commissioner earns just over $91,000.
Pay for elected county commissioners, beginning July 1, would be set at:
$121,000 for Clark County;
$116,000 for Washoe County;
$39,000 for Lyon County, Carson City, Elko County, Nye County, Douglas County, and Storey County;
$36,000 for Churchill County and Humboldt County;
$33,000 for White Pine County and Pershing County; and
$30,000 for Lander County, Mineral County, Lincoln County, Eureka County, and Esmeralda County.
Each county commissioner would be entitled to a 3% increase for the next five years, beginning July 2026. Salaries would thereafter be frozen at the 2030 fiscal year level until additional legislative action.
Annual raises must not be paid if the county commission 'determines that sufficient financial resources are not available' to pay for the increases. Elected county officers, including commissioners, would not be entitled to retroactive pay for annual increases that were not granted.
Commissioners would also be allowed to pay themselves and county elected officials a reduced salary, as long as it's across the board and equally proportional.
Assemblyman Max Carter, a Democrat from Clark County, said lawmakers are 'getting flooded' with messages 'citing some concern about fiscal responsibility in these crunching times.'
'These people haven't had a raise in seven years,' Daly responded. 'Tell me the good time? There is no good time. So I think it needs to be done.'
The bill passed the Senate last month by a vote of 19-2, with two Republicans, Sen. Carrie Buck of Henderson and Sen. Robin Titus, who represents Churchill, Douglas, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, and parts of Nye County, opposed.
Guthreau of NACO characterized just two 'no' votes in the Senate as 'a win.'
Nevada Republican Party Legislative Affairs Director Joshua Skaggs testified in opposition to the measure.
'We support lower taxes and fees and a reduction in the scope of government at all levels,' he said. 'No private business would ever consider paying employees based on what another employee in the organization earns.'
The bill, he said, is an unfunded mandate that would further widen the gap between private and public employees, and 'requires ever-increasing pay that increases, based not on merit or the value of the job, but rather based only on what other employees earn and the passage of time.'
'The Economic Forum made it very clear that Nevada has economic problems,' Janine Hansen, president of Nevada Families for Freedom, testified in opposition, referring to the forum reducing projected state tax revenue to reflect anticipated impacts of President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Noting the median salary for a full-time worker in Nevada 'is only $53,000,' Hansen said 'it doesn't look good when we are raising salaries for government employees when the people are struggling to put food on the table'
The committee took no action on the bill.
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