Only one person testified Tuesday about the Ramsey County Board's proposal to raise its pay next year by 1 percent, and even he rather grudgingly liked the idea.
The board is expected next week to approve the raise for 2014, matching the pay hike given to county employees this year. The board's raise would take effect January 1.
Under the proposal, the salary of the board chair — currently Rafael Ortega — would be increased by $867, to $87,542. The board's other six commissioners would get a pay hike of $840 each, making their salary next year $84,888.
According to the ordinance, the board intends to set its salaries in the future to match general increases given to county employees.
That rate structure appealed to Richard Moses of New Brighton, a former member of the Ramsey County Charter Commission who nevertheless told commissioners that they're being paid too much for what is technically a part-time job (even though commissioners typically put in many more hours).
"If you had simply followed the rate of inflation since 1995, you'd be paid about $55,000 now instead of about $85,000," Moses said.
The highest-paid county commissioners in Minnesota are Hennepin County's, where the annual salary is $97,080. The Hennepin County Board is considered full-time.
