The Kootenai County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday not to raise elected officials' salaries for the next fiscal year.

The vote followed Commissioner Dan Green proposing, then withdrawing, a motion to lower the commissioners' salaries by 3 percent.

Taking less could prompt other elected officials to do likewise, Green pointed out during the commissioners' weekly meeting in the county Administration Building.

"I'm a firm believer in leading by example," he said.

An individual in the private sector would be paid considerably more to perform the commissioners' duties, Green acknowledged, but compensation is acceptably different in the government arena.

"Public office, it's an act of public service," he said.

But Commissioner Jai Nelson noted that the three officials are technically taking a cut because they are not receiving the cost-of-living and merit increases that other employees will.

Nelson is already earning less than she expected this year, she added, as the demand of the commissioner's role has prevented her from continuing her nursing career.

"It's a public service, but it's not on a volunteer basis," Nelson said. "Without this salary, I would not have run for office."

Commissioner Todd Tondee said he has also suffered a significant decline in his used car business since taking office several years ago.

"That's part of my public service, is giving up that," Tondee said.

A study a few years ago revealed that Kootenai County elected officials are underpaid compared to officials in other areas, Tondee added, which warranted a salary increase at the time.

Green promised to resurrect his concerns down the road when the commissioners get to work on restructuring county government.

Prosecutor Attorney Barry McHugh, the highest paid county elected official who was not present at the meeting, said he didn't mind not getting a raise next fiscal year.

"I think a lot of people aren't getting raises," McHugh said. "It's only fair elected officials' salaries reflect what's happening in the community."

He declined to comment on whether elected officials should see a pay cut.

"I think maintaining the salaries is consistent with the way the board has acted in the past," McHugh said.

Tondee acknowledged that the elected officials' salaries probably should have been set prior to last week's budget hearing, but scheduling was disrupted by the new budget process this year.

The county elected officials' salaries for the 2011-12 fiscal year are as follows:

Commissioners: $71,080 each

Clerk: $68,958

Treasurer: $68,958

Assessor: $68,958

Sheriff: $84,872

Prosecuting Attorney: $98,664

Coroner: $61,535