The Board of Lewis County Commissioners will likely not receive a pay increase in the next budget cycle, according to a draft letter from the three-member Lewis County Salary Commission.
During a short meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 6, the two present members of the commission, Terry Petty and Haley Williams, reviewed a draft letter written by Williams determining they would not approve a salary increase for the three Lewis County commissioners — Sean Swope, Scott Brummer and Lindsey Pollock.
That letter and the decision will receive a final vote next week after the county’s legal counsel reviews it. Commission member Colby Moore was not present.
In the draft version of the letter, the commission cited the county’s financial circumstances and a letter from Lewis County District 1 Commissioner Swope calling for the county to freeze his salary.
“The commission recognizes that Lewis County continues to face significant budget challenges, similar to those experienced by local governments throughout Washington state,” the draft letter states. “These fiscal concerns remain ongoing and warrant a prudent approach to compensation adjustments.”
That letter followed a pattern in the area after Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders announced to the public that he would request that his own salary be frozen as the law enforcement agency and county government faced budget challenges.
In his own letter submitted to the salary commission back in May, Swope officially requested his position's salary be frozen, citing increasing living expenses in the area.
“As the cost of living continues to sharply rise, our employees, neighbors and fellow community members are struggling to pay their energy bills,” Swope wrote. “Receiving a pay increase as a Lewis County commissioner would be highly inappropriate at this time.”
The draft letter from the commission similarly cites increasing costs for employees and county residents and comes to the same conclusion, that “granting salary increases to elected officials would not be appropriate at this time.”
The commission originally discussed a potential salary increase for the Lewis County commissioners during a meeting on Monday, Aug. 31. At that meeting, they took a vote to move forward with drafting the letter to finalize the decision not to allow a salary increase.
In August of last year, during the county’s 2026 budget process, the commission approved a 3% increase to the salary for Lewis County commissioners. The increase resulted in the salary for a Lewis County commissioner increasing from $100,838 to $103,863, where it will remain through the 2027 budget cycle.
At the time, the commission cited recent inflation as the reasoning behind the 3% increase. That increase is in a similar range to many other cost of living wage increases for union-represented and non-represented county employees, which in recent years have ranged roughly between 1% and 4%.
Residents of Lewis County are able to petition decisions made by the county’s three-person salary commission by collecting signatures from 15% of the county’s voting population. A successful petition would earn a spot on the ballot and allow residents to opt to confirm or decline a salary hike.
The current Lewis County Salary Commission is a three-person commission with each member representing one of the county’s three legislative districts. The members are selected at random out of registered voters in each district.
The commission was reconvened by the Lewis County Board of Commissioners ahead of the county’s 2026 budget process following new state guidelines allowing for the much smaller commission compared with previous renditions. The state previously required much larger 10-person commissions with registered voters, two per district, selected at random and four industry experts with experience in business, personnel management, legal professions and organized labor.
The county’s current salary commission also has a reduced scope, deciding salary increases only for the Lewis County Board of Commissioners, with other county elected officials receiving salaries linked to that of a Lewis County Superior Court judge, whose salaries are set by the Washington Citizen’s Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.
For reporting by The Chronicle on the previous salary hike approved by the Lewis County Salary Commission, visit https://tinyurl.com/46zk2c82.
