The Thurston County Board of Commissioners are asking for a salary pay freeze for the second year in a row amid the county’s ongoing budget difficulties.
The five-member board voted unanimously Tuesday, May 12, to submit a letter to the Citizen’s Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, which develops recommendations for elected official salary increases.
The request approved by the board on Tuesday will ask the Salary Commission to forgo any scheduled raises for the five commissioners and for seven other elected county officials under the commission’s jurisdiction — the assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, prosecuting attorney and sheriff.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders sent his own letter to the Salary Commission last week asking for his pay to be frozen.
If the requests are approved, all 12 elected Thurston County officials will maintain their current compensation levels through 2027.
Sanders and the Board of County Commissioners both made similar requests to the Salary Commission last year, which were granted.
The commissioners’ each had a salary of $147,936 at the time their pay was frozen in 2025, according to documents from the Salary Commission.
Sanders’ salary when it was frozen in 2025 was $182,761.
While the Board of County Commissioners did not recommend pay increases for other elected officials last year, the prosecuting attorney’s salary did increase 3% between 2025 and 2026, in line with the state’s salary schedule.
The prosecuting attorney’s salary for 2026 is $244,631, according to previous reporting.
The assessor, the auditor, clerk, coroner and treasurer each had salaries of $147,936 in 2025.
Salary information for those positions in 2026 was not publicly accessible as of Tuesday evening.
The request for a pay freeze for Thurston County’s elected officials comes as the county manages a structural budget shortfall projected to continue into the coming years, the county said in a news release.
Officials are working to bridge the gap between rising service costs and tax revenues that haven't kept pace. Additionally, the county said it is continuing to navigate “unfunded mandates” — legal requirements for the justice system, electoral administration and public health that the county must fulfill even when state and federal funding is insufficient.
“Fiscal leadership starts at the top, and right now our priority is providing essential services to the people of our county,” said Chair of the Board of County Commissioners Tye Menser. “We believe it is the responsible choice to pause salary adjustments to help ensure every available dollar supports vital county services and the dedicated staff who deliver them.”
Thurston County adopted its 2026-27 biennial budget in a contentious 3-2 vote in December. The county was looking at an estimated structural deficit of $23.8 million in 2025 that worsened in the 2026-27 biennium.
In response, the county took a proposed 26% general fund reduction — over $36 million — and whittled it down to a total of $9.84 million in cuts.
While the final cuts weren’t as devastating as the initial proposal, departments still saw significant budget reductions.
The Salary Commission is scheduled to meet for the first time this year on Monday, May 18, and could begin discussing 2027 salary levels at that time, according to a county news release.
