The Lewis County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) on Tuesday, Feb. 11, passed two resolutions updating the Lewis County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.
The two resolutions updated local policy to match with changes to state law concerning county level salary commissions and appointed three members to the salary commission, respectively.
In short, the new rules empower the county auditor to create policies and procedures for selecting, by lot, at least one commission member from each of the three county commissioner’s districts. Commission members selected this way must make up a majority of the commission.
The BOCC can also appoint additional members as long as their selections are residents of the county and have experience in personnel management or related fields.
The previous county salary commission was disbanded after the terms for all previous appointees expired on Sept. 22, 2023, at the latest.
The county auditor has now selected, by lot, three new commission members — one from each commissioner’s district. The three new members are Kayla Macewen from Commissioner Sean Swope’s District 1, Colby Moore from Commissioner Lindsey Pollock’s District 2 and Terry Petty from Commissioner Scott Brummer’s District 3.
The new members will each serve a four-year term ending Dec. 31, 2028.
The former Lewis County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials boasted nine members. The commission enacted a county commissioner salary increase of 10.95% in March 2023, after having denied an increase the year before. This changed the commissioners’ yearly pay from $90,886 to $100,838, according to previous reporting done by The Chronicle.
The commission makes recommendations for elected positions within Lewis County.
