PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson Counnty commissioners approved pay increases for some elected officials Monday to keep up with county averages throughout the state.
* Superior Court Clerk Ruth Gordon’s salary will be increased from $50,964 to $59,172.
* Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell’s current salary of $89,096 will be raised to $92,749.
* Sheriff Mike Brasfield, whose annual paycheck is $65,422, will see an increase to $70,950.
The pay increases take effect Jan. 1.
In April, the county received results from a study that compared the salaries of elected officials from seven different Washington counties, including Chelan, Clallam, Douglas, Island, Lewis, Mason and Pacific, and found that salaries in Jefferson County were not up to par.
“We’ve done away with the step program for elected officials and gone with the middle of the range,” said Commissioner Pat Rodgers, R-Brinnon.
Next year, the county will begin using a single step system that compensates for increased cost of living each year.
The system now in place is a nine-step system in which officials move up a step each year they work, subsequently getting paid more each year.
Three county officials, Assessor Jack Westerman, Auditor Donna Eldridge and Treasurer Judith Morris, were at step nine and their salaries — $63,422 per year each — will not change because they were above the average found in the comparative study.
But, if someone takes their places in the future, the three positions will each earn $59,367 per year.
The commissioners didn’t think it was fair to give pay decreases for those who have been working the longest and make more than the average, said Lorna Delaney, clerk of the board of commissioners.
There is a statute that prevents the commissioners from giving themselves raises while in office, but because Rodgers is not running again and his term expires at the end of the year, the District 3 seat he occupies will be vacant and will earn a salary of $60,195 per year.
