Spokane sheriff requests $30K raise as subordinates’ pay outpaces his own

(The Center Square) - As Spokane County braces for a $20 million deficit, Sheriff John Nowels asked for a $30,000 raise on Tuesday that would push his salary to $236,000, on par with counties of similar size.

The salary proposal follows Jeff McMorris, senior director of the Finance and Administration Division, raising alarms about the major shortfall last month. If the Board of County Commissioners, or BoCC, lets it sit, the deficit could grow to as much as $70 million by 2030 under his projections.

State law requires municipalities to adopt balanced budgets, so the board must do something to level spending before next year. Meanwhile, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is wrapping up negotiations over deputy and command staff pay, which Nowels said is outpacing his.

“It’s not an insignificant increase,” Nowels acknowledged on Tuesday as the commissioners eye a challenging budget process ahead.

He said the BoCC has tied the sheriff’s salary to about 90% of the prosecuting attorney’s salary since around 2018. According to OpenPayrolls, Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell made just over $203,000 in 2022, while the sheriff’s salary teetered around $193,000.

The policy saw former Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich's salary increase considerably compared to his deputies and some command staff. Nowels said that since then, his staff’s pay has outpaced his own, with the recent union negotiations pushing nearly all of the command’s salaries over his.

Nowels asked the BoCC to tie his salary to 5.6% above that of an undersheriff. The shift could address discrepancies between Nowels and his command staff while competing with the Spokane police chief, for which the city advertised a salary as high as $247,804 last year.

“My concern is this is all pegged to union negotiations,” Commissioner Josh Kerns told his peers and Nowels, “that would then dictate what the elected official gets at the top.”

If the raise is approved, the sheriff would make just over $236,000 annually. Spokane County is the fourth most populous county in Washington state. Snohomish County comes in third and pays its sheriff around $220,000. Clark County, coming in fifth, pays the role a little more than $237,000.

Last fall, 62% of Clark County residents voted to tie their sheriff’s salary to 8% more than an undersheriff. According to The Columbian, it raised the $156,396 salary by more than 50%.

“Setting it at whatever the undersheriff’s salary is at will prevent compression,” Nowels said, adding that every eight years or so, deputy pay outpaces that of the sheriff.

With one undersheriff retiring this year, Nowels wants to return that position to a deputy role. He said that could save around $65,000 over the next few years, potentially offsetting the raise with other efficiencies.

Board Chair Mary Kuney suggested tying Nowels’ pay at 5% more than that of an undersheriff for a few years rather than 5.6%. After that, she said they could hand the decision off to the Citizens’ Commission on Salaries, which the board discussed doing years ago.

Having already dealt with the compression in the past, Commissioner Al French said he felt like they were out of options as his peers remained split on tying the sheriff’s salary to union negotiations.

“We can either continue to do this every four to five years or just adjust the compression by eliminating it,” French said.

A final vote is expected in the coming weeks as the board looks ahead to the 2026 budget that will require them to balance the $20 million deficit.