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Utah County Commissioners vote themselves another pay increase, Beltran dissents
All county employees receive raises
By: Rob Shelton
Lehi Free Press
The Utah County Commission voted to approve salary increases for elected officials, justice court judges and county employees during a sometimes-contentious meeting on March 5 that highlighted differing compensation and fiscal responsibility philosophies.
The commission approved a 2% raise for elected officials and a 7.7% increase for justice court judges while authorizing a market-based 2.5% increase for other county employees, despite concerns from one commissioner about the timing following last year’s property tax increase.
Elected Officials’ Raises Spark Debate on Public Service
The commission’s approval of a 2% salary increase for elected officials passed in a 2-1 vote, with Commissioners Amelia Gardner and Brandon Gordon supporting the measure and Commissioner Skyler Beltran opposing.
Utah County HR Director Ralph Barnes explained that the salary increase recommendation was based on county ordinance and represented the smaller of two possible increase scenarios.
“The average increase of market for employees from the previous year in 2024 was 2.7%. The increase of elected officials in the four largest counties in 2024 was 2%,” Barnes said. “As of the first of 2025, our comparative counties have all raised elected officials’ salaries, and so now we’re behind 6%. That’s just an important data point to be aware of.”
All commissioners announced they would donate their raises to charities.
“I see myself much different than Sheriff Smith, who has made a career being a POST-certified law enforcement officer. I know he’s making this a career,” Gordon said. “I don’t want to be a career politician. I’m here for service.”
Beltran, who voted against the increase, explained, “This will be the third year in a row that we have increased elected officials’ salaries. I don’t think it needs to be a race to the top. I don’t care that other counties have raised their elected officials’ salaries. All of us ran on the salary we have or less.”
Gardner strongly defended the increase, arguing it wasn’t about the commissioners but other elected officials.
“Being 6% behind all of our peers is not a race to the top, but rather a race to the bottom,” Gardner said. “I recognize that the vast majority of our elected officials are career service employees. And if we want a well-run and efficient county, we need the most qualified and highly skilled people running as department heads, which means we need to provide them competitive pay.”
After the meeting, Beltran released the following in a public statement: “As for the salary increase I received today, Human Resources has said I can’t decline the increase, as Commissioners must all make equal pay. Therefore, I will donate it to a local charity supporting Utah County residents.”
The latest increase continues a trend of rising compensation for commissioners. In 2022, the commissioners’ salary was $128,267, but the newly approved salary will reach $170,300 — representing a total increase of $42,033 or 32.7% over three years. For comparison, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the average household income of Utah County residents in 2023 was $100,617.
Justice Court Judges Receive Mandated Increase
The commission unanimously approved a 7.7% salary increase for Utah County’s justice court judges, a move described as necessary to keep them within the salary range established by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
“The Administrative Office of the Court sets the range for these roles,” Barnes explained. “They’re appointed by the commission but retained by elections, so they’re very unique.”
The 7.7% increase combines a 1.7% adjustment matching the average county employee increase plus a 5% adjustment reflecting the courts’ range change.
“We are required by the Office of the Courts, even as they keep moving the range up, to at least give them the equivalent of what the employees got the previous year as an average increase,” Barnes said. “They’re not getting ahead in the range, quite frankly. They’re just maintaining their position.”
Barnes confirmed the county had already budgeted for the increase through restricted funds.
County Employees Receive Market-Based Increase Despite Economic Concerns
In a split 2-1 decision, with Beltran voting against, the commission approved a 2.5% “market-based cost of labor increase” for all county employees.
Barnes emphasized the recommendation was based on labor market conditions rather than cost of living adjustments.
“The cost of labor is outpacing the cost of living,” Barnes said. “What we care about is competing in the labor market for our talent. To be frank, if the cost of labor was not going up but the cost of living was, I would not recommend an increase.”
The county had set aside 5% of funds for potential wage increases. Still, Barnes recommended the more conservative 2.5% approach to avoid bringing any positions above the market rate while retaining the remaining funds for targeted adjustments as needed.
“The short answer is that we use a variety of private wage sources,” Barnes said regarding how the county determines appropriate compensation levels. “We have to moderate that because that will usually push up our rates.”
Beltran expressed concerns about the fiscal impact of continued raises.
“The last four years, we have seen a 34.9% increase on average,” Beltran said. “I think the timing is not right for this. We did a 48% tax increase last year. Our sales tax and property tax continue to soften. The private sector continues to see layoffs. I’m not optimistic about our economic conditions moving forward.”
Gardner countered that the targeted approach represented efficient government.
“Instead of doing a zero approach and then doing targeted, which would require four times more work to come to the same conclusion, voting for a 2.5% increase across the board that brings no employees above the market rate is actually saving a ton of effort,” Gardner said. “It would be more expensive to go through an entire market study on every position in the county.”
In a follow-up statement, Beltran said, “Our employees are incredible public servants who dedicate their careers to serving the public day in and day out, and I truly appreciate them…I believe the price tag of $2.5 million, along with soft sales tax revenues and rising health insurance and benefits costs, is too much at this time…After careful consideration, I believe it is necessary to take a year off from the cost of labor increases, not because our employees are unworthy but due to our current financial situation and the overall national economic conditions.”
Sheriff Mike Smith thanked the commission for approving the employee increases.
“The reason the private sector thrives in this area is because of phenomenal government employees. They keep all of the infrastructure going and keep it safe,” Smith said. “I think they deserve more. We’re struggling to fill positions. We always have open positions in our jail and enforcement, and it’s hard with the competition that we face.”
