Elected leaders of two southeast Iowa counties will see a little more money in their paychecks come July 1.
The proposed FY2016 budgets for Lee and Des Moines Counties contain funding for smaller-than-expected wage hikes.
In Lee County, almost every elected leader and non-union employee will receive a pay raise of 3%. That is in line with what union employees will receive during the upcoming fiscal year.
The five members of the County Board of Supervisors are the exception. They chose to freeze their salaries at their current level for another 12 months.
There was some talk of eliminating the non-union/elected raises, but the supervisors decided this week to honor the decision to fund them.
While they are in line with the union employees, the raises are smaller than first proposed by the Lee County Compensation Board. The volunteer panel suggested 4.5% to help bring the county's elected leaders in line with similar counties.
Meanwhile, in Des Moines County, the eight elected leaders, including the Board of Supervisors, will receive raises of about 1% or smaller come July 1.
This is quite a bit different than the original proposal from the Des Moines County Compensation Board, which said they should receive at least 4% each.
The Board of Supervisors, which sets the salaries for elected leaders, felt Des Moines County was not in a position to approve the higher increases.
Both counties must have their budgets certified by Monday, March 16.
