PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday changing how the county’s non-judicial elected officials are paid and providing a raise for each of the positions.
Officials said the change would take politics out of the equation, provide parity with others in comparable positions across the state and include regular cost of living increases as the Washington Citizen’s Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials makes changes to Superior Court judges’ salaries.
The resolution sets all elected officials — with the exception of the county prosecuting attorney and sheriff — at 50 percent of a Superior Court judge’s salary, or $86,285 per year.
The prosecuting attorney’s salary would be 89 percent of a Superior Court judge’s salary, or $153,588.19 annually, and the sheriff’s salary would be set at 72 percent, or $124,251.12 per year.
The new salaries would take effect after the next election for each position, meaning the salaries for the assessor, auditor, District 3 commissioner, director of the Department of Community Development, prosecuting attorney, sheriff and treasurer would each take effect Jan. 1, 2019.
Salaries would change for the District 1 and District 2 commissioners Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021, respectively.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
