Utah County leaders' salaries rising

PROVO — By the end of 2007, Utah County commissioners will have received nearly $20,000 in salary increases in just three years.

But they're not alone. Other elected officials in Utah County benefited from a pay raise at the start of 2005 and will receive a collective 9 percent pay increase next year as part of the new $73.8 million budget county commissioners recently adopted for 2007.

Although the county's new budget is about $4 million more than last year's budget, commissioners say the county's rapid growth and increased revenue will help pay for the changes.

"We're not budgeting a tax increase," Commissioner Steve White said. "We're not planning on doing it. The growth is coming from all the new construction going on."

The last raise Utah County's elected officials received was in 2005, when commissioners salaries jumped from $70,980 to $81,588. White is quick to point out that commissioners did not boost their salaries as much as was recommended at the time. Their previous raise took place in 2001.

Commissioners determine raises for the county's elected officials by following the advice of the Career Service Council. The council is a board of three people — none of them county commissioners — who compare like positions and salaries in the county to those across the country.

According to White, the council found that a comparative composite salary for county commissioners elsewhere is about $103,000.

County employees are generally given a cost-of-living salary increase of about 3-4 percent annually. However, elected officials are not, and they most likely won't receive another raise next year.

"I would be surprised to see that happen," said Commissioner Larry Ellertson.

Not long before commissioners adopted the new budget, the list of county needs and available county funds were off by $6.8 million. The deficit prompted commissioners to re-evaluate the requests of the county's departments.

"As we went back to the departments and said that we've got a bit of a gap in terms of our ability to fund what was requested, our people came back and explained very constructively what they needed because they were doing something that we might not have been aware of," Ellertson said. "In doing that, we got a better picture of what our revenues were going to be. Our revenue went up."

Because of an increase in population in Utah County, estimates for property tax revenue have jumped to $17 million from $14 million in 2006.

The county option sales tax increase for road and rail improvements that was favored in the recent election will add another estimated $2.5 million, according to the 2007 budget.

"We keep getting sales tax reports, and the sales tax reports keep getting rosier," White said.

The budget increase will help to pay for an increase in a variety of county programs, including new costs and employment positions associated with the new county jail. The sheriff's office received almost $500,000 more for patrol costs, and the county substance abuse program funds doubled to $486,632.

Still, White says the county's revenue estimates are conservative.

"We'll be just fine," White said. "We're going to collect the money this year, and there will be carry-forward money for the next year."

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