Winona County Board approves administrator pay increase after split vote

The Winona County Board of Commissioners voted 3' to acknowledge the county administrator's performance review and approve the proposed compensation package at a regular meeting.

Commissioner Meyer moved to accept the performance review and the recommended salary; the motion was seconded and carried on a 3-2 roll call. The board did not record a formal retroactive payment in the motion. The outcome was announced as "passes 3-2." No detailed roll-call names for each yes/no were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Discussion before the vote centered on broader compensation philosophy for senior county staff. Commissioner Hellsing voiced caution about setting pay precedents and urged a pay-for-performance system to avoid escalating salaries across positions. Supporters, including Commissioner Meyer and Commissioner Begley, argued the administrator had covered multiple vacant positions and had not received an earlier comparable adjustment; they said the recommended pay aligned the administrator to market comparators.

Commissioners also discussed redistribution and equity considerations: one speaker noted that applying a uniform cost-of-living percentage favors higher-paid employees proportionally more than lower-paid staff. Multiple commissioners urged development of a formal pay-for-performance framework for future reviews.

The board approved the compensation package by the 3-2 margin and asked administration to draft a pay-for-performance proposal for the next review period.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to circulate a draft pay-for-performance plan for future reviews and to provide comparative salary information as part of upcoming budget work.