MINNEAPOLIS — Weeks after the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners proposed a 49% salary increase for its membersThen went backmembers accepted a much smaller increase.

On Tuesday, the board approved a 5% raise effective Jan. 1, 2025, and another 5% raise in 2026. According to the board’s resolution, those raises are equal to what the average county employee received between 2019 and 2022.

The maximum salary for commissioners this year is $122,225. The raises will increase it to $128,336 in 2025 and $134,753 in 2026.

The board had already approved the 49 percent increase earlier this month by a vote of 4 to 2. This would have given the commissioners a salary of $182,141 in 2025.

Board Chair Irene Fernando says she originally proposed the increase based on a market analysis of district administrator salaries in the United States.

“We need generations of elected leaders across the state and country who view elected office as an attainable chapter of their careers for themselves and their families,” Fernando said.

Commissioner Angela Conley later apologized to her constituents for her initial support of the increase.

“For me, running for commissioner was not a lucrative deal. I came on the board and my salary was increased by about $15,000 a year because I was already at the top end of my salary range as an employee,” Conley said. “For me, this job was never about the salary, it was about serving the people of the 4th District.”

For comparison: Governor Tim Walz will earn $127,629 this year, and both Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty And Sheriff Dewanna Witt are expected to earn $218,272 next year.