Salaries frozen for elected officials in county

Representatives of the Mineral County Salary Board were on hand at the county commissioners meetings on Friday to discuss the salaries of elected officials in the county.

With the lack of funding from sources such as Secure Rural Schools and the impact that lack has on the county’s reserves a need to consider how money is spent becomes necessary in all aspects of the government – including the salaries of elected officials.

“If your cash reserves are getting under $500,000, it could be scary to add a lot of extra costs,” Judy Stang said. “They (previous county officials) used to keep them over a million every year but if every year you start picking away at them it could cause problems.”

Stang continued to discuss the budget of the county – including how non-taxable funds are generated as well as what sources of revenue have been lost.

In light of the lack of funds coming into the county and the uncertain future of sources such as Secure Rural Schools, Stang made a motion to freeze wages for elected officials in the county.

The motion was seconded by Mineral County Clerk and Recorder Staci Hayes and passed unanimously.