DEPARTMENT: Human Resources
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
title
Establishment Of 2026 Elected Officials' And County Manager's Compensation And Commissioner General Expense Allowance
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Establish 2026 Elected Officials' and County Manager's compensation.
SUMMARY
Elected Officials' and County Manager compensation is reviewed annually. Elected Officials' 2026 compensation must be established before year-end due to statutory requirements that do not provide for retroactive compensation, and which specify that compensation must be set annually.
Proposed 2026 Elected Officials' and County Manager Compensation
All proposed salaries for 2026 have been computed based upon the proposed 2026 Unclassified Merit Compensation Policy and Plan ("Plan"), relevant statutory provisions and other pay increases provided to County staff. The 2026 salaries are initially established based upon the Unclassified Merit Compensation Policy and Plan. The proposed salaries actually payable in 2026 are established considering the Plan's policy which limits the salaries of the County Attorney and County Sheriff to the maximum compensation to be paid to the County Manager. The proposed Plan provides for a 0.0% to 8.25% base adjustment for 2026. For the purposes of elected officials' pay the annual salary will be issued in equal payments pursuant the number of annual pay dates in a given year commencing on the first Monday of the year through the Sunday proceeding the first Monday of the following year.
Under the Plan, a recommendation of the annual salary of County Commissioners for the next year shall be made by the Human Resources Director and County Manager and shall be based upon consistency with Dakota County's compensation structure for unclassified positions and/or other metro-area market considerations. The average pay increases for other metro area County Commissioners in 2026 is anticipated to range from 2 percent to 7 percent, averaging 4 percent. B...
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