Saline County Commissioners established a new salary structure during their regularly scheduled formal meeting on Tuesday.

Each member of the previous three person commission was paid an annual salary of about $28,000, and also had an insurance option that would make the total package, including benefits, about $39,000.

In a 3-2 vote, the commission decided to keep the salary the same for commissioners Jim Gile and John Price, both who were part of the previous commission. The three new commissioners will each be paid a salary of $12,000 a year.

Commissioners Gile, Price, and Dave Smith all voted for the new salary structure. Commissioners Monte Shadwick and Luci Larson voted against it.

Shadwick, the commission chairman, indicated that he believes elected officials in a position like this should receive a minimal salary, if any at all. Rather, they should do it as a service to the comunnity. He cited the USD 305 School Board, which receives no salary, and the Salina City Commission which receives a couple of hundred dollars a month. Shadwick added that he intends to donate his salary to charity.

The new salary structure, which will be reevaluated as a part of the 2016 budget process, will not have an impact on the current budget’s bottom line.