Weld County Council votes to raise salaries for several elected officials including sheriff, commissioners

By Kelly Ragan

At a meeting Monday, Weld County Council agreed to raise salaries for several elected officials, even though they were less than what they asked for.

The Clerk and Recorder position is set to receive an increase from $120,000 to $156,000. 

The Assessor position is set to receive an increase from $120,000 to $156,000. 

The five Weld County Commissioner positions are set to receive an increase from $105,000 to $120,000. 

The Sheriff position is set to receive an increase from $160,000 to $208,000. 

The increases are less than what several of the elected officials asked for.

Sheriff Steve Reams had initially requested a bump in salary to $250,000 (a 56% increase), Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes had requested an increase to $185,000 (a 54% increase), and Assessor Brenda Dones had requested an increase to $175,000 (a 45.8% increase).

All three cited scope of work and compared salaries to non-elected positions. 

Council had announced it was considering raising commissioners’ salary from $105,000 to $160,000 (a 52% increase).

All five sitting Weld County Commissioners signed a letter presented at the meeting Monday requesting the board *not* to increase their salaries. 

According to a letter read into the record at Monday’s meeting, commissioners wrote: 

“America and Colorado face a crisis of leadership caused by a lack of faith in our public officials. Families across our county are struggling to make ends meet, small business owners are working overtime to keep their doors open, parents worry about the future opportunities for their children. This is not a time to further erode public trust by large increases in elected officials’ salaries.” 

Commissioners noted that the letter was meant only to address commissioners’ salaries and that they did not take a position regarding the salaries of the other elected officials. 

Even so, the Council agreed all eight elected officials should get raises. 

At the meeting, councilmember Tonya Van Beber said she walked into the room planning to vote no on raises for all positions after receiving what she described as an “overwhelming number of emails” from the public who were against them. 

“Those emails begged us to be cautious and wise when providing pay increases,” she said. 

Weld County Council member Rupert Parchment echoed the sentiment, saying that when thousands of people are losing or have lost their jobs, the council needed to be mindful and respectful of what they decide to do with taxpayer dollars. 

Councilmember Cindy Beemer said that she understood the public perception of the salary increases might be negative, but she said it was important to also note elected officials had already gone eight years without a salary adjustment. 

But then came public comment, which was more favorable of the salary increases. 

Reams, Koppes and Dones commented on why they thought they should receive the raises. 

All three cited the scope of their work, as well as their salary compared to un-elected department heads. 

Sherrie Peif, a conservative activist and reporter for Complete Colorado, spoke during public comment and pleaded with council to raise salaries for all positions. She even brought her own proposal to share with the council. 

A decision not to give raises, she said, would be “a slap in the face.”  

One Weld resident cautioned the council about awarding salary increases to the person rather than the position itself, as the nature of elected positions meant those elected officials would not always have those seats. 

“What are you going to do someday when you have a sheriff you don’t agree with? Cut their pay? I doubt we’ll have the courage to do that,” he said. 

Reams countered the argument, saying council could not divorce the position from the person in it. 

“We’ve never had a contested race (for Sheriff),” Reams said. “You are setting salaries early.” 

Council will sign resolutions solidifying the raises at its Oct. 17 meeting, but as it stands, salaries are set to go into effect from 2023-2026, except for the commissioners’ salaries. Those would go into effect starting in 2025.

To attend 

The next Weld County Council meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Weld administration office, 1150 O St. 

For more information, go to https://www.weldgov.com/Government/Departments/County-Council.