A question about appropriate pay for Mahaska County employees got most of the attention at Monday’s (7/1) Mahaska County Board meeting.  The Board voted to hire a Davenport-based consulting firm to determine what County employees should receive.  The pay of two Sheriff’s Deputies appears to be at the heart of the matter.  Consultant Paul Greufe suggested that employees whose pay is above what is considered appropriate should be frozen until it reaches an appropriate level through annual cost of living increases.  Mahaska County Sheriff Russ Van Renterghem stuck up for his Deputies.

“This isn’t right, gentlemen, to cut those two wage increases that you approved. You sat right here in this budget meeting and you said you guys were not happy with it and I understand that.  But you gentlemen said we’re not happy with it, but we’ll approve it if you can cut the money somewhere else in your budget and get my budget for the Sheriff’s Office down to three percent and I did that.”

Van Renterghem says the two Deputies have earned the right to have their salaries topped out with the other Deputies in his department.