The Lincoln County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution during their regularly scheduled commission meeting on Tuesday, April 21 that approved salary increases for nearly all elected officials in the county. The salary adjustments were for the County Assessor, Attorney, Clerk, Clerk of District Court, Coroner, Sheriff, Treasurer and the two commissioner seats currently held by Commissioner Bowers and Commissioner Connelly, as those are the two seats up for election this November.

“There’s two state statutes. Salaries fall to the commission under those statutes and the elected officials in their election cycles,” explained Commissioner Mel Shumway during a live interview on SVI Radio. “We met individually with county officials. They brought numbers and ideas and justifications for compensations to us. It was a good dialogue with the elected officials. We honored their requests. They work hard. We have great employees and great elected officials in our county.”

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“I came out of the business world years ago, and it’s always easier to keep employees than it is to find new employees,” continued Shumway. “Sometimes it’s cheaper to keep an old employee than to go find a new employee. So, we want to make sure that the people are happy in their jobs. Our elected officials do a wonderful job.”

For the two commission seats up for election this year, the annual salary was increased from $39,812 to $50,000. The new salary matches the salary set in 2024 for the commission seat currently held by Commissioner Shumway, when a vote was made to increase that commissioner’s salary during its election year.

The annual salary for the County Assessor, County Clerk, Clerk of District Court and Country Treasurer were all set at $130,000, up from $92,000. The County Sheriff was set at $142,000, up from $117,000. The County Coroner increased from $39,812 to $45,000. And finally the County Attorney’s salary was set at $153,700, up from $117,000. According to Commissioner Shumway, the County Attorney’s salary is reimbursed by up to 75% by the state due to the amount of work the attorney does on behalf of the state.