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Politics and Government News
Chandra Colvin

Hennepin County commissioners withdraw proposal to give themselves a 49 percent pay bump

Workers protest behind glass
AFSCME Union Local 34 county workers protesting the proposed pay raise at Hennepin County’s Commissioners Board Meeting on Tuesday.
Chandra Colvin | MPR News

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Hennepin County commissioners were set to vote Tuesday on whether to give themselves a 49 percent pay increase. Instead, they withdrew the proposal entirely after resident opposition. 

Board chair Irene Fernando proposed the pay hike at last week’s board meeting, which was approved 4-2. It would have brought commissioners’ pay from $122,225 to $182,141. 

Commissioners said Hennepin County residents’ feedback and opposition was the main reason they withdrew the proposal.

Fernando said she had proposed the salary be at the low end of what a market analysis found for administrators’ pay, as the two are in the same job classification. She said her proposal was rooted in data and math, but she withdrew to allow for “other commissioners to generate compensation methodologies that may be more palatable.” 

"If we want a shot at solving the challenges of today and the intensifying challenges of tomorrow, I believe that elected officials should be the visionaries of the communities they represent,” Fernando said.

County workers in AFSCME Local 34 attended the board meeting to protest the raise. In a statement given out by the union, they said they serve as the frontline workers of Hennepin County. 

Kevin Chavis, the union’s Member Team Action Coordinator, said there is a shortage of staff and a high turnover rate.  

“We want 49 percent more workers,” he said. “We also ask the community, what would you like to see Hennepin County do more of? Where are they dropping the ball?" 

Kate Liska is a case management assistant in Hennepin County’s Housing Stability Department, and she said the union workers want more money for county services. 

“We have incredibly long wait times right now for basic services, people can’t get their benefits managed or turned on, and struggle to get through when they need those sorts of things,” Liska says.  

Union leaders said they were offered only a 1 percent wage increase for 2025, followed by another increase of .5 percent in 2026 and in 2027. 

Proposed raises for the sheriff and county attorney were also withdrawn in Tuesday’s meeting.