Polk County News
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HIGH LOW
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Jan. 13............... 55
Jan. 14............... 45
Jan. 15............... 51
Jan. 16............... 53
Jan. 17............... 50
Jan. 18............... 54
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Wage increase recommended Polk treasurer
Compensation committee OKs 4 percent to commissioners
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Polk County’s
Compensation Board — the
three nonelected citizen
members of the budget
committee — recommend-
ed all county elected officials
receive a 4 percent hike in
pay come July 2016.
The one exception may be
Polk County Sheriff Mark
Garton, who by law has to be
the highest paid in his office.
He will receive 4 percent or
whatever it takes to keep his
salary at the top of the sher-
iff’s office.
This is a recommendation
only and comes months be-
fore the real work on the
2016-17 budget begins.
Last year the board, which
had met in May when the
budget was approved, de-
cided to move its meeting to
Jan. 13 this year.
That means its recom-
mendation will be included
in the budget and discussed
when the rest of the financial
plan is debated this spring.
Final approval of the rec-
ommendation is up to the
Polk County Board of Com-
missioners, which last year
approved raises for the clerk,
treasurer, assessor and sher-
GOVERNMENT
iff, but declined to increase
their own pay.
The 4 percent figure isn’t
what County Administrator
Greg Hansen recommended.
He said elected officials
salaries in Polk County con-
tinue to fall behind those in
neighboring and similar-sized
counties. The gap ranges from
2 percent behind for the sher-
iff to lagging 19 percent for
the commissioners.
To make up ground, he
recommended increases of:
8 percent for the commis-
sioners; 4 percent for the
clerk; 3 percent for the sher-
iff; 5 percent for the assessor
and setting the salary for the
treasurer at $1,000 following
what could be a dramatic
change in responsibilities for
that office (for more on that
see “Polk treasurer to be re-
defined” on page 3A).
District Attorney Aaron
Felton is a state employee
and his salary is paid by the
state.
While many other coun-
ties do, Hansen recom-
mended not providing addi-
tional income for Felton.
“My continuing recom-
mendation is not adding a
supplement to that because
I think it’s the state’s job to
pay its em-
ployees ad-
equately,”
he said.
C o m -
pensation
b o a r d
member
Vern Wells
supported
Hansen
H a n s e n’s
suggestions, but the other
two members, Blair Wasson
and Norbert Hartmann, were
hesitant to give the commis-
sioners that big of a raise.
Hartmann said doing so
may erode voter support for
future levy measures, includ-
ing a second public safety levy.
“If we do this, we are set-
ting ourselves up for a very
hard sell on the public safety
levy the next time around,”
Hartmann said. “I know that
you will never catch up if
you don’t start doing some-
thing, but I also know the
political issue if you do it.”
to be redefined
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Polk County
Treasurer Linda Fox will not
seek re-election to a fourth
term in office and with her
retirement may come a
change in the office’s job re-
quirements and salary.
In Polk County, which is
required by law to have a
treasurer, the job includes
being the county’s financial
manager. Administrator
Greg Hansen said voters
made a wise choice in
electing Fox, who is a certi-
fied public accountant and
had experience in govern-
mental financial matters
before taking office.
“She inherited a lot of
duties and took on a lot of
duties because she’s gra-
cious and she is very good
at what she does,” he said.
He’s not confident the
county will always be that
lucky.
At the county’s Compen-
sation Board hearing Jan.
13, Hansen recommended
the financial management
part of the treasurer’s job,
and the associated salary,
be separated from the
elected office. That way it
could be filled by a profes-
sional with the needed cre-
dentials.
“I still feel strongly, when
you have a $60 million or-
ganization, you don’t really
want to roll the dice on
your finances,” Hansen
said. “That’s my position. It
has nothing to do with any-
one who may be running
for the position.”
Dallas resident Dave We-
ston, a candidate for the of-
fice, told the board, and the
Polk County Board of Com-
missioners, that his experi-
ence in the private sector
qualifies him to take on the
duties of the treasurer.
“I hope that you don’t
feel that the county is step-
ping off a cliff here after the
wonderful service that
Linda has given this coun-
ty,” Weston said.
The compensation board
agreed with Hansen’s rec-
ommendation and made
one of its own: setting the
treasurer’s monthly salary
at $1,000 and creating a
stipend of $5,850 to pay for
a financial manager.
Hansen said the final de-
cision is up to the commis-
sioners, who will discuss the
issue further on Tuesday.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Get training for nonprofit boards
CORVALLIS — Members of nonproit organizations board of di-
rectors may participate in “Nonproit Organization Board Training,”
to be presented from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Oregon
State University LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis.
Workshops will be presented by IRS and Oregon Department of
Justice specialists; nonproit attorneys and nonproit CPAs; univer-
sity faculty and nonproit consultants. The event’s keynote speaker
is by Ellen Rosenblum, Attorney General for Oregon.
For more information or to register and pay fees: www.nonprof-
itsteward.org.
Kicker will be on 2015 tax returns
WEATHER
RECORDED
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 20, 2016 3A
RAIN
1.01
.33
.25
.09
.60
.94
.34
Rainfall during Jan. — 4.28 in.
Rain through Jan. 18 — 4.28 in.
SALEM — There will be a “kicker” issued for this year, but won’t
be any kicker checks issued as there have been in the past.
A more than $402 million tax surplus was conirmed by the Of-
ice of Economic Analysis during the irst week of October.
The surplus triggered a tax surplus credit, or “kicker,” for the
2014 tax year.
To claim the kicker, you must ile a 2015 tax return. To calculate
the amount of credit, multiply your 2014 tax liability before any
credits, except credits for taxes paid to other states, by 5.6 percent.
Detailed information on how to claim your credit will be in the
2015 Oregon personal income tax return instructions.
For more information: www.oregon.gov/dor.
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February
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3rd
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The Big Game!
Sweetheart
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Money Talks!
Babies of 2015
We’re passing along
what it says! Want to get
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