Thurston County elected officials got bigger raises than county staff in 2025, but county leaders say the situation is complicated.

The Board of County Commissioners approved 6% raises for elected officials and 3% raises for non-represented staff during their last meeting of 2024.

The vote for the 3% raises was unanimous, but Commissioner Emily Clouse broke with her seatmates on the 6% raises. She abstained, saying she believes salary increases for elected officials should not exceed the cost-of-living adjustment for county staff.

"This disparity raises critical questions for me about equity, fiscal responsibility and who we value in our community," Clouse said.

The votes occurred the same day the board approved a 2024-2025 midterm budget with $505.9 million in operating expenditures for 2025. Several challenges have led to a "structural deficit" in the county budget, such as property tax limits, flat sales tax revenue growth, unfunded mandates and inflation, according to the county's midterm budget book.

Clouse referenced those challenges in her remarks before the vote on the 6% raises for elected officials. She then abstained from the vote and it passed 4-0.

Other commissioners explained the context that led to their votes and said the situation was more complex than Clouse described.

"Context is important," Commissioner Wayne Fournier said. "An oversimplification of an analysis ... I don't think serves the argument."

How does this work?

The county's Citizen's Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials is responsible for setting the salaries for county commissioners and for recommending salaries for other elected county officials.

For 2025, the citizen's commission set county commissioner salaries at $12,328 month, or $147,936 a year, which is a 6% increase over their 2024 salary.

The year prior, the citizen's commission set the county commissioner salary at $11,630 a month, which was a 5.8% increase.

Notably, no elected officials in Thurston County except the Prosecuting Attorney received salary increases in 2023 and 2021.

For the remaining elected officials in 2025, the citizen's commission recommended salary increases ranging from 6% to 9%.

The one exception was the salary for the Prosecuting Attorney. Under their proposal, Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim would make $19,022 a month, or $228,264 a year, which is a 5% increase over his 2024 salary.

However, the county is not entirely responsible for the Prosecuting Attorney's salary. The state contributes half of the salary for a superior court judge toward the salary of the elected prosecuting attorney under state law. Thurston County must pay the remainder of the salary, which must be equal to or greater than what it contributed in 2008.

Superior Court judges' salaries are adjusted on July 1, according to the Washington Citizen's Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. That means the Prosecuting Attorney gets a mid-year salary adjustment instead.

The Board of County Commissioners cannot decide their own salaries, but they do get final say on the salaries of other elected county officials.

The board ultimately decided to set the salaries for the Assessor, Auditor, Clerk, Coroner and Treasurer at $147,936. That represented a 6% increase that brings it them in-line with the county commissioner salaries.

Sheriff Derek Sanders will get $182,761 in 2025. While that is higher than other elected officials, it still represents a 6% increase over his $172,416 salary in 2024.

The commissioners explain their decision

Commissioner Carolina Mejia said she recommended the board keep the raises for all elected officials at 6% for 2025, with the one exception being the Prosecuting Attorney who's on a different schedule.

"For me, it was important that we aligned all those together," Mejia said.

Fournier said the salaries for elected officials have to remain competitive. Additionally, he said the county has to consider wage compression.

"We can't have the auditor making a whole bunch less than her deputy," Fournier said.

Commissioner Tye Menser said the county recently worked to increase staff salaries that have fallen behind market range.

"We're trying to create a consistent approach through these alternate, tentative mechanisms that we have to use," Menser said.

County Manager Leonard Hernandez said some employees have seen merit increases or moved up pay ranges.

"They could be seeing that 3% plus the step increase or merit increase," Hernandez said. "It doesn't apply to elected officials."

Outgoing Commissioner Gary Edwards had the last word. He said the county has not consistently raised salaries for elected officials over the years.

"They fell behind during those periods and so this also is an attempt to make up some of that," Edwards said. "Trying to keep it fair."

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