Posted on

County Ranks Above Average For Salaries

The salaries for Roosevelt County’s elected officials rank on the upper end, but not as high as some counties based on figures available on the Montana Association of Counties’ website. The figures regarded the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

According to the information, Roosevelt County’s base salary for elected officials is $61,801. The highest five counties include Butte/ Silver Bow at $79,063, Lewis and Clark at $76,508, Gallatin at $74,392, Flathead at $72,970 and Yellowstone at $72,894.

Other counties ranked high include Missoula at $71,281, Richland at $70,134, Carbon at $67,812, Fallon at $67,443, Cascade at $65,225, Jefferson at $63,173 and Bighorn at $61,857.

Roosevelt County Commissioner Gary Macdonald explained that commissioners listen to the recommendations of the compensation board before determining increases. Macdonald said clerk and recorder Cheryl Hansen provides information such as wages of other counties that have similar populations and mill values.

“We try to stay with the flow,” Macdonald said.

He notes that commissioners try to find a good balance of what the tax base can afford while offering a competitive wage.

The information on the website also included salaries of county attorneys throughout the state. Roosevelt County attorney’s salary was listed as $111,854.

Counties with the highest paid county attorneys included Missoula at $138,895, Yellowstone at $136,896, Lincoln at $133,043, Richland at $126,100, Jefferson at $125,106, Carbon at $123,831, Stillwater at $122,778, Valley at $122,170, Butte at $122,071, Lake at $120,868, Cascade at $119,381, Sweet Grass at $119,267, Lewis & Clark at $118,899, Madison at $116,918 and Flathead at $116,149, County attorney salaries are set by the county compensation board and approved by county commissioners. The county attorney’s salary cannot exceed a district court judge’s salary, except in the case where adding the same amount to the county attorney’s salary - as is given to other elected officials - would make the county attorney’s salary higher than the district court judge’s. In this situation, the increase must be an amount sufficient to increase the salary to at least the same as a judge’s, but the county may grant the full increase, which would make the county attorney’s salary more than a district court judge’s.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST NEWS