Pierce County sheriff, executive might get bigger raises next year than first approved
Newly elected Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank hasn’t started his new job yet but he’s already in line for a possible raise.
Sheriff is among a handful of other high-ranking Pierce County elected positions that might get a salary higher than what was initially approved by the Pierce County Council last year.
A proposed ordinance before the council would up the salaries of four elected officials in 2025, including the sheriff, Pierce County executive, Pierce County auditor and Pierce County assessor-treasurer. The changes were expected to be discussed further in a Pierce County Rules and Operations Committee meeting the morning of Nov. 18.
On Nov. 19, the Pierce County Council chose not to adopt the salary adjustment and postponed the increase indefinitely.
Last year the council voted to approve a 6% raise for the sheriff, effective Jan. 1, 2024, and an additional 3% raise effective Jan. 1, 2025. According to the new proposal, the Pierce County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials recommended bumping the 2025 raise to 5% instead.
“Whereas, the Commission finds that the salary of the position of elected Sheriff continues to be considerably lower than that of other senior managers in the Sheriff’s Department and the Commission is concerned that the lower salary may be a disincentive for potential future candidates for the elected office, it is the recommendation of the Commission that the salary increase for 2025 for the position of Sheriff be adjusted from 3% to 5% percent,” the staff report said.
As previously reported by The News Tribune, current Sheriff Ed Troyer was set to make $197,460 in 2024 and the new sheriff was slated to make $203,384 in 2025. If the changes are approved, Swank would make at least $207,333 in 2025 instead.
The Pierce County executive was set to receive a 4% raise in 2024 and a 3% raise in 2025, but the commission is recommending the executive receive a 4% raise in 2025 instead after considering “many factors, including inflation rates, job responsibilities, salaries of similar offices in comparable Counties, the current salaries of senior, managers in the four offices, past salary increases recommended by the Commission and past salary increases approved by the Council.”
“In order to align with the budgeted increases for unrepresented County employees and most represented County employees, it is the recommendation of the Commission that the salary increases for 2025 for the positions of Assessor-Treasurer, Auditor and Executive be adjusted from 3% to 4%,” according to the staff report.
If approved, newly elected executive Ryan Mello would make about $232,047 in 2025, about $2,232 more than was originally approved.
Under that pay scale, current Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer would be paid $171,978 in 2025, or $1,655 more than what was originally approved. Newly elected Assessor-Treasurer Marty Campbell would be paid $168,641 in 2025, or $1,622 more.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect the council chose not to adopt the raise structure.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
