A county officeholders meeting held last week created a divide between county officials when a 30% pay raise for officeholders was introduced, then approved.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, Platte County officeholders met to discuss the salaries for their elected positions.
In the 2025 budget, a 2.5 percent salary increase was approved for county employees, but not officeholders, whose salaries are set by a salary commission made up of those same officeholders. Base salary increases do not go into effect until the next term of office.
After a discussion, County Collector Sheila Palmer moved to raise officeholder base salary by 30%. In the vote that followed, Assessor Marcus Farr, Auditor Kevin Robinson, Palmer, County Clerk Jera Pruitt, Public Administrator Shanna Burns and Treasurer Chris Kendall voted yes, with Recorder of Deeds Christopher Wright and Commissioners Scott Fricker, Allyson Berberich and Joe Vanover voting no. Sheriff Erik Holland abstained and Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd was absent.
Palmer said the 30% increase gets officeholder salaries closer to a comparable or market rate.
“When we sat down to research this topic and consider what motion to put forth, we went to the statutes,” Palmer said. “Salary bases are established in the statutes and then defer to the Salary Commission for any other adjustment. The statutes set a standard and it’s up to each county to consider the complexities they must manage. Each of those amounts are based on the overall assessed valuation of the county. Our county’s current assessed value is over 3.7 billion. We landed on a 30% increase as a very conservative number in comparison to what it could have been if we would have gone off the minimum salary in connection with the assessed valuation.”
Fricker disagreed with this reasoning.
“I think it’s ridiculous that any elected public official at any level of government would vote in favor of giving themselves a 30% annual pay raise,” Fricker said. “We all ran for public office knowing exactly how much the position pays, but now that we’re in office some officials have decided that they are no longer satisfied with that level of pay? I think it’s outrageous and those that voted in favor should expect to face primary opponents in their upcoming elections.”
District Commissioner Joe Vanover was in agreement with Fricker.
“I was shocked that some of the officeholders asked for a 30% raise,” he said. “Elected office is supposed to be public service, at least partially. “
Wright took his displeasure with the vote to social media, posting on Next Door and Facebook about the decision.
“I think this is an egregious fleecing of the taxpayers and I voted NO, along with Scott Fricker, Platte County Presiding Commissioner, Commissioner Vanover and Commissioner Berberich, with Sheriff Holland abstaining. 30%??? Wouldn’t if be nice if you could vote for your own pay raises? We need to take care of our employees and the people... NOT POLITICIANS!!”
The post garnered engagement with the public, with some posters calling for election recall of the officeholders who voted yes, and some comparing the increase to the increase in their property tax bills due to the state-mandated assessment increase imposed this past summer.