Jasper County appoints members to re-established compensation board

Seven people have been appointed to the Jasper County Compensation Board, which was re-established by the board of supervisors last week after state lawmakers effectively disbanded the recommending bodies across all counties but still gave boards of supervisors the option to keep them.

The compensation board is tasked annually to review the salaries of all elected officials and recommend adjustments. Recommendations are then provided to the supervisors for a final decision. Whether they adopt the recommended salary changes or make amendments is entirely up to the board of supervisors.

Each elected office in Jasper County — apart from the board of supervisors — is granted one individual to represent them on the compensation board; the county supervisors have two individuals who represent them. They are likely to meet this month to discuss salary increases for all county elected officials.

Here are the individuals on the compensation board and the specific office they are chosen to represent (in the order they appear on county documents):

• Denny Stevenson for the Jasper County Auditor Office.

• Brett Doerring for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors.

• Denny Vander Weerdt for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors.

• Jake Hedgecock for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

• Jason Morgan for the Jasper County Treasurer’s Office.

• Allison Udelhoven for the Jasper County Attorney’s Office.

• Nancy Parrott for the Jasper County Recorder’s Office.

Newton News previously reported that the board of supervisors agreed to re-establish the compensation board in a 3-0 vote. Supervisor Brandon Talsma told Newton News it did not feel right for only the board of supervisors to decide the salaries of elected officials. He saw value in the compensation board.

“So I went ahead and had a discussion with our fellow elected officials, and the consensus was, ‘Hey, we kind of feel like it’s been a good thing.’ It was also the general consensus that having outside entities discuss this also kind of takes the pressure off of the board of supervisors,” Talsma said.