Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House File 2345 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE 2345
                                  BY DUNWELL
                            A BILL FOR
An Act abolishing county compensation boards.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 331.212, subsection 2, Code 2024, is
 amended by adding the following new paragraph:
    NEW PARAGRAPH. i. Setting the compensation schedule of
 elected county officers.
    Sec. 2. Section 331.321, subsection 1, paragraph l, Code
 2024, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 3. Section 331.322, subsection 6, Code 2024, is amended
 to read as follows:
    6. Review Annually prepare and review the final
 compensation schedule of the county compensation board and
 determine the final compensation schedule in accordance with
 section 331.907.
    Sec. 4. Section 331.322, subsection 7, Code 2024, is amended
 by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 5. Section 331.323, subsection 1, paragraph e, Code
 2024, is amended to read as follows:
    e. When If the duties of an officer or employee are assigned
 to one or more elected officers, the board shall set the an
 initial salary for each elected officer. Thereafter, the
 salary and, thereafter, shall be determined determine the
 salary as provided in section 331.907.
    Sec. 6. Section 331.907, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 4, Code
 2024, are amended to read as follows:
    1. The annual compensation of the auditor, treasurer,
 recorder, sheriff, county attorney, and supervisors shall
 be determined as provided in this section. The county
 compensation board annually shall review the compensation
 paid to comparable officers in other counties of this state,
 other states, private enterprise, and the federal government.
 In setting the salary of the county sheriff, the county
 compensation board shall set the sheriff’s salary so that it
 is comparable to salaries paid to professional law enforcement
 administrators and command officers of the state patrol, and
 the division of criminal investigation of the department of
 public safety, and to city police chiefs employed by cities of
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                               H.F. 2345
 similar population to the population of the county. The county
 compensation board shall prepare a compensation schedule for
 the elective elected county officers for the succeeding fiscal
 year with an annual salary increase based on the consumer
 price index but not to exceed a three percent increase. A
 recommended compensation schedule requires a majority vote of
 the membership of the county compensation board. The board
 may increase the annual salary of an elected county officer
 by resolution and budgetary procedures set forth in section
 331.434, but a salary increased by resolution shall not take
 effect until the first fiscal year following the next regular
 election for which the affected position was on the ballot.
 For purposes of determining a salary increase under this
 subsection, the board shall initially use the salary of a
 position as of the effective date of this Act.
    2. At the public hearing held on the county budget as
 provided in section 331.434, the county compensation board
 shall submit its recommended compensation schedule for the
 next fiscal year to the board of supervisors for inclusion
 in the county budget. The board of supervisors shall review
 the recommended compensation schedule for the elected county
 officers and determine the final compensation schedule which
 shall not exceed the compensation schedule recommended by
 the county compensation board. In determining the final
 compensation schedule if the board of supervisors wishes to
 reduce the amount of the recommended compensation schedule,
 the amount of salary increase proposed for each elected
 county officer, except as provided in subsection 3, shall be
 reduced an equal percentage. A copy of the final compensation
 schedule shall be filed with the county budget at the office
 of the director of the department of management. The final
 compensation schedule takes effect on July 1 following its
 adoption by the board of supervisors.
    3. The board of supervisors may adopt a decrease in
 compensation paid to supervisors irrespective of the county
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                                        H.F. 2345
 compensation board’s recommended compensation schedule or other
 approved changes in compensation paid to other elected county
 officers. A decrease in compensation paid to supervisors shall
 be adopted by the board of supervisors no less than thirty days
 before the county budget is certified under section 24.17.
    4. The elected county officers are also entitled to receive
 their actual and necessary expenses incurred in performance
 of official duties of their respective offices. The board
 of supervisors may authorize the reimbursement of expenses
 related to an educational course, seminar, or school which that
 is attended by a county officer after the county officer is
 elected, but prior to the county officer taking office.
    Sec. 7. Section 331.907, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
 following new subsection:
    NEW SUBSECTION. 6. The board shall not adopt a salary
 increase for the auditor, treasurer, recorder, county attorney,
 or supervisors unless the board provides county employees with
 an annual cost-of-living pay adjustment.
    Sec. 8. REPEAL. Section 331.905, Code 2024, is repealed.
                           EXPLANATION
         The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
          the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
    This bill eliminates county compensation boards. The bill
 grants county boards of supervisors the responsibility of
 annually preparing and reviewing the compensation schedule
 for certain elected county officers. Under current law, a
 county compensation board annually prepares a recommended
 compensation schedule for certain elected county officers for a
 succeeding fiscal year subject to adoption by the county board
 of supervisors.
    The bill requires the county board of supervisors to
 increase an elected county officer’s annual salary based on
 the consumer price index but not by more than 3 percent each
 year. The bill permits the county board of supervisors to
 increase elected county officer salaries by resolution and
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                                H.F. 2345
 budgetary procedures, but the salary increase shall not go into
 effect until the next regular election for which the affected
 position was on the ballot. For purposes of determining salary
 increases, the bill requires the county board of supervisors
 to initially use the salary of a position as of the effective
 date of the bill.
    The bill prohibits the county board of supervisors from
 adopting a salary increase for the auditor, treasurer,
 recorder, county attorney, or supervisors unless the county
 board of supervisors provides county employees with an annual
 cost-of-living pay adjustment.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 331.212, 331.321, 331.322, 331.323, 331.907, 331.905