Fremont County Commission votes to raise elected officials salaries by 20 percent for 2027-2030

(Lander, WY) –  The Fremont County Commission unanimously voted this week to increase elected official salaries by 20 percent for 2027-2030.

At that point, salaries for the Fremont County Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, Clerk of District Court, and Coroner will rise from $88,000 per year to $105,600, and salaries for the Fremont County Attorney and Sheriff will increase from $98,000 to $117,600, according to the approved motion.

Request

This week’s decision came after Fremont County’s elected officials – including the Fremont County Attorney, Sheriff, Coroner, Clerk, Assessor, Treasurer, and Clerk of District Court – sent the Commission a letter April 7 asking the governing body to consider “our need to re-evaluate the current set wage for the Elected Officials in Fremont County.”

“(We) ask that you consider salaries which is more comparable to other officials across the State, working in the same capacity,” the letter states.

Attached to the letter was an information packet that included a spreadsheet comparing the salaries of Fremont County’s elected officials with those of their counterparts elsewhere in Wyoming.

The packet also included annual wage information for comparable positions in Fremont County’s municipalities and school districts.

In addition, the packet shows that Fremont County’s elected officials have only seen a 5 percent average increase in pay over the past four years – while wages for non-elected employees have gone up 20 percent on average during the same timeframe.

Discussion

During this week’s meeting, Commissioner Mike Jones thanked Fremont County’s current elected officials for compiling the information in the packet. 

“I personally think there needs to be an adjustment,” he said, pointing out that Fremont County received about $1 million more in revenue last year than anticipated, leaving “room” for a potential salary increase.

“We ended up in a better position than we thought, (and) we moved $1 million into our reserves,” Jones said. “I kind of think of that a little bit as a rainy day (fund).”

He also added that, in his opinion, any funding cuts that Fremont County experiences as a result of property tax reductions made at the state level should impact services – not employees.

“The employees need a fair living and a fair wage, (so) we’re just going to have to absorb those costs once in a while,” he said. “And yeah, it could get tight, and at some point we’re going to have to cut services – but to me, that’s the message from the legislature, that (we are) getting a pay cut. … I think that comes out of services. I think that’s our message back to the legislature.”

The Commissioners also voted to raise their own annual pay from $34,000 to $41,500 this week. 

(Editor’s Note: The opening line of the article did not originally contain the word “unanimously,” and was added after a reader had asked for the vote count.)