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Since You Asked: County administrator explains commissioner pay Thursday Oct 13, 2016 at 12:01 AM In yesterday's Since You Asked, Mary M., of Medford asked about the salaries of Jackson County commissioners. After reading our answer, Jackson County Administrator Danny Jordan provided us a wealth of additional information about how they're paid. During the county's annual budget process, a compensation board makes recommendations for elected officials' salaries in a public meeting, in compliance with Oregon Revised Statute 204.112, Jordan said. In determining elected officials' pay for the year, be it county commissioners, the assessor or the sheriff, the board factors in information such as employees supervised, duties and responsibilities, compensation paid to subordinates, pay of other employees in similar management positions and what's available in the budget, according to Jordan. Management staff at the county, including county commissioners, are placed on one of six salary steps at the recommendation of Human Resources staff. Time in office determines commissioner pay, according to Jordan. Commissioner Doug Breidenthal, who had been in office since January 2013, was placed on the third step on the "Director I" pay scale in July, at $100,318.40. Commissioner Rick Dyer, sworn into office in January 2015, was placed on the second step of the "Director I" scale, at $95,555.20 per year. Colleen Roberts is at the same tier as Dyer, but she has requested and accepted the reduced salary of $68,432 since she was sworn into office in January 2015. Directly comparing elected officials to county management staff can be challenging, according to Jordan. Among the highlighted differences: County managers are responsible only to voters — they have no other direct supervision. Elected officials are not required to work a normal schedule, and they don't accrue vacation or have sick leave, according to Jordan. Rather than a specific industry standard, commissioners' job qualifications are set through ordinances and statutes, but elected officials are free to make decisions based on political context as well as logic or practicality, Jordan said. Although the salaries of elected officials aren't on the county's website, the information is public and available upon request through the county's Human Resources office upon request, Jordan added. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.