Ramsey County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a salary increase of 3% for board members.
With the approved increase, effective Jan. 1, board members’ salaries will increase from $104,077 to $107,199. The board chair’s salary will increase from $109,338 to $112,559.
County employees with settled bargaining agreements and unrepresented employees received a general wage increase of 3% in 2025. The seven-member board typically sets commissioner salary increases at a rate that matches general wage increases for county employees in the previous year, according to county officials.
Board members cited that precedence ahead of the vote.
“I just wanted to just mention again, that this is similar across our entire organization,” said District 6 commissioner Mai Chong Xiong at Tuesday’s meeting. “That this is just average of what we had bargained and negotiated last year through all of our contracts, so it is nothing above what our county staff are receiving. So just wanted to mention that, and that it’s because of our charter that we are required to just do this every single year.”
St. Paul city officials also often receive a cost of living increase, Xiong said, adding that the county’s process is likely one of the more transparent ones. Ramsey County is the only county in the state that’s required to vote on commissioner salaries prior to elections, said board chair and District 5 commissioner Rafael Ortega.
Commissioners are awarded $800 per month for everyday expenses they incur while working as elected officials, according to county officials. Commissioner aides receive $400 per month. These amounts were not increased by Tuesday’s vote.
In Ramsey County, salary increases also were approved last year, going from $101,280 to $104,077 for commissioners and from $104,477 to $109,338 for the chair.
The current annual salary for commissioners in Hennepin County is $128,337, according to Hennepin County officials. A July proposal by Hennepin County commissioners to increase their annual salaries to $182,141 was later withdrawn following pushback from county residents.
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