By Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – The Minnehaha County Commission meeting room was again filled with people last week, and most of them were there to talk about an agenda item on raises for elected department heads.
Those office holders are the State’s Attorney, Sheriff, Treasurer, Register of Deeds and the Auditor.
As requested at the previous meeting, three resolutions were prepared and presented by Human Resources Director Carey Deavers.
The first resolution called for a 7.5% raise for all five elected department heads.
The second called for a 7.5% raise for four of the department heads, but no raise for the county auditor.
Both of those resolutions were asked for by Commissioner Joe Kippley.
Commissioner Jen Bleyenberg asked for a resolution offering a 5% raise for all of the elected department heads, as that was what commissioners raised other county salaries for 2024.
People supporting Minnehaha County Leah Anderson, who made up most of the gallery, were very much against other department heads receiving a raise that Anderson would not.
Most commentors jumped on that saying that “option two should be scratched and should never have been presented.”
And when public comment had finished and the issue went back to commissioners for discussion, a motion and a vote, that second option was never discussed.
The week before when Kippley did ask for a resolution on not giving the auditor a raise, he also asked that one be prepared to give her, and other elected department heads, a 7.5% raise – 2.5% more than what was originally budgeted for.
While this was not the 19.5% increase that Anderson, herself, asked for, it was 2.5% more than was planned for in September.
And probably 2.5% more than the elected officials would have gotten if the matter preceded naturally.
At the meeting, Kippley thought the 7.5% raise was fair, since along with the 5% increase, other county employees also get raises for “steps,” which are based on their years of service.
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