Pierce County executive, sheriff, others may get another pay raise next year
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- Council to vote Nov. 18 on 2% raises for sheriff, executive, auditor, assessor.
- Commission recommended 3% raises; council committee amended proposal to 2%.
- 2027 salaries: Swank $215,710, Mello $241,422, Farmer $178,926, Campbell $175,454.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the annual salaries now earned by the Pierce County executive and the Pierce County sheriff and what future salaries would be for executive, sheriff, auditor and assessor-treasurer in 2026 and 2027.
High-ranking Pierce County elected officials are in line to get a raise next year after already receiving raises in 2024 and 2025, according to council records.
Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello, Sheriff Keith Swank, Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer and Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Marty Campbell are in line to get a 2% raise in 2026 and another 2% raise in 2027, according to council documents. The Pierce County Council is expected to vote on the issue at its meeting Nov. 18.
In 2025 Mello made $229,815 a year, Swank made $196,833 a year, Campbell made $167,019 a year and Farmer made $167,016 a year, according to county communications manager Bryan Dominique.
The Pierce County Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials initially proposed those officials get a 3% raise in both 2026 and 2027, but the council’s Rules and Operations Committee adopted an amendment on Oct. 27 that changed the increase to 2% each year, Dominique said.
Mello recommended non-represented county employees receive a 2% cost of living increase, and “it is appropriate that the elected officials receive a cost of living increase commensurate with that received by the County’s non-represented employees,” according to the ordinance.
After meeting monthly from April to July this year, the salary commission recommended the 3% raises 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,” according to the ordinance.
If the 2026-2027 raises are approved, Mello would make $234,411 in 2026 and $239,100 in 2027. Swank is set to make $200,770 in 2026 and $204,785 in 2027. Campbell would make $170,359 in 2026 and $173,766 in 2027. Farmer would make $170,356 in 2026 and $173,763 in 2027, according to the county.
It was proposed in 2024 that the Executive, Assessor-Treasurer and Auditor would get a 4% raise in 2025 rather than a 3% raise, but that salary adjustment wasn’t adopted and was postponed indefinitely. Under the ordinance Swank would have received a 5% raise in 2025 rather than a 3% raise.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
