County proposes small increase in commissioner pay

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Washington County’s proposed 2013 Board of Commissioners budget includes a slight pay bump for the county’s five elected officials, county administration said recently.

The Board’s proposed $372,000 budget – an $11,000 increase over 2012 -- includes small pay increases from commissioners’ current $52, 713 per year base salary, the same hike that other county employees are slated to receive in next year’s budget, officials said.

Increased health care costs for commissioners are also included in the budget, as is funding to transition to paperless delivery of County Board agendas and materials. Comissioners’ $6,000 annual travel allotment is not changed under the proposal.

Washington County’s overall proposed 2013 budget would increase operating expenditures by 2.2 percent but keep overall spending level at $174.3 million.

The budget also leaves property taxes the same as the 2012 budget, proposing an $86.1 million levy. If approved, it would mark the county’s third straight year of leaving its property tax levy flat.

Commissioners were set to vote on a preliminary 2013 tax levy and budget at Tuesday’s Board meeting in Stillwater, after this edition of the Bulletin went to press. The Board will approve a final budget – including its 2013 salaries – in December.

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