Brad Holton is sworn in as Canyon County District 2 Commissioner on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Holton and Canyon County’s two other commissioners — Zach Brooks and Leslie Van Beek — voted in favor of restoring commissioner salaries to their 2022 levels, plus a 9% cost of living adjustment, on Thursday.
Brad Holton is sworn in as Canyon County District 2 Commissioner on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Holton and Canyon County’s two other commissioners — Zach Brooks and Leslie Van Beek — voted in favor of restoring commissioner salaries to their 2022 levels, plus a 9% cost of living adjustment, on Thursday.
CALDWELL — The Canyon County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved raising their salaries from $90,000 to $112,360.73 on Thursday morning.
In September, then-Commissioners Keri Smith and Pam White voted in a 2-to-1 decision to drop the salaries from just over $103,000 to $90,000 to accommodate the cost of a new chief operating officer. Commissioner Leslie Van Beek voted in opposition, saying that the incoming board members, Brad Holton and Zach Brooks, ran on the current salary, calling it a “slap in the face,” as previously reported.
The resolution approved Thursday restores the commissioners’ salaries to their previous level, plus a 9% cost-of-living adjustment that was afforded to all county employees in the most recent budget cycle, bringing the salary to $112,360.73.
In December, the county announced that Greg Rast, who was serving as the county’s director of information technology, would assume the role of chief operations officer. The purpose of the role is to provide stability to the board of commissioners and maximize its efficiency, as previously reported.
Rast said Thursday morning that it was his coordination with the county’s human resources director, Kate Rice, to get the commissioners considering a new resolution about their salaries. Rice said she authored the resolution.
“I fully support it and believe it’s the right thing to do,” Rice said, adding that her research shows that it is in line with other commissioner salaries for other counties.
Holton said the process by which the previous board reduced the salaries lacked transparency.
“To me, members of this board went into this room with a piece of paper that was already written, with a decision … a proposal to reduce the salaries, which I feel as a citizen was capricious and arbitrary,” Holton said.
As an electrical contractor, Holton said he is taking a pay cut to serve as commissioner.
“So this isn’t about money,” Holton said, “this is about the integrity of Canyon County and our elected officials going forward.”
Van Beek agreed.
“This is not about because I don’t have financial resources,” Van Beek said. “That’s not the point; the point is that this office falls under the governor in terms of authority, decision making. There is a lot that happens with this job.”
Brooks said he felt “indigestion” at the idea that the county would be adjusting its budget to cover the cost of the new salaries.
“I’m wondering how I sign off on a resolution where we’re approving something that is over budget,” Brooks said.
But County Controller Zach Wagoner said that a budget can be thought of as a plan, and while it is the general intent to stay inside it, it is normal for changes to be made as needed, or for a number of changes to be made together toward the end of the fiscal year budget.
“The county certainly has the financial resources to make this happen,” Wagoner said.
Later in the meeting, Brooks said he intended to vote in favor of the resolution.
Sheriff Kieran Donahue said he is also supports the pay raise.
“I think it needs to be done, and I think you deserve it,” Donahue said of adjusting the budget. “It needs to be made whole regardless of what happened in the past.”
