Linn County Supervisors freeze salaries for supervisors and other elected officials

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  – The Linn County Supervisors voted 2-to-1 to freeze salaries for supervisors and other elected officials. The vote ignores a recommendation from the Linn County Compensation Board, who recommended a 3% raise for all elected officials.

Linn County Supervisors each make about $120,000 per year, which is nearly double that of Johnson County Supervisors and almost triple what Scott County pays their supervisors. New Linn County Supervisor Louie Zumbach ran on the idea that’s too much.

He said his top concerns have changed after being on the job for the past four months.

“I really felt like it’s too high and I still feel like it’s too high,” Zumbach said. “But more importantly than that, three is miserable to work with.”

The number of supervisors is tied to the history of supervisor pay. About 12 years ago, supervisors lowered their pay to increase the size of the board to five members. Then reversed the pay cut just a couple of years later. That led to a referendum in 2016 to cut the board back to 3 members.

Those three members are Zumbach, Ben Rogers, and Stacey Walker. Zumbach and Rodgers voted for a 0% salary increase for elected officials and their deputies on Friday.

Managers and department heads for the county will still get around a 2% raise. The Linn County Sheriff, Auditor, and Treasurer told the board on Friday, they believed the actions taken by the board were unfair to their deputies.