Time to Stop the Gravy Train at the Public Service Commission

Would it surprise you to find out that each of the five members of the Montana Public Service Commission makes more than the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State and the State Auditor?

These are the current salaries of Montana elected officials.

Governor — $111,570

Lieutenant Governor — $86,362

Attorney General — $123,499

Secretary of State — $95,695

Superintendent of Public Instruction — $107,000

State Auditor — $92,236

PSC Chair — $101,772

PSC Member — $100,819

Elected officials salaries are set by surveying the salaries of the same officials in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho. Montana sets its PSC salaries taking the average of Commission salaries from surrounding states. This survey is conducted every 2 years and salaries are adjusted accordingly.

Put simply, the salary survey system is particularly skewed to the benefit of members of the Montana Commission. There are several reasons Montana Commissioners are not comparable to those in other states.

First, and probably most important, is that Montana has five commissioners and all of the surrounding states have three. We are paying each of the five Montana Commissioners salaries based on the amount commissioners in other states get even though there are only three commissioners in each of the surrounding states.

Second, not all of the Commissioners in other states are elected. Wyoming and Idaho Commissioners are appointed by the Governor. Commissioners in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota are elected. But in Montana, Commissioners run in a district comprised of only 20 percent of the state. In North Dakota and South Dakota getting elected is a much bigger job because they have to run state-wide.

Third, the Wyoming Commission skews the average. The salary of Wyoming commissioners is $130,591. All three Wyoming Commissioners are lawyers appointed by the governor. It is not comparable or equivalent to the Montana Commission. Yet it is a part of establishing the pay received by Montana Commissioners based on the average of other states pay.

Finally is the matter of raises. In the 2016 salary survey the Chair of the Montana Commission received a 6.4 percent raise and each of the remaining commissioners received a 5.4 percent raise.

That’s quite a deal considering that most state employees received only 1 percent. The raise for the Montana Commissioners will now be incorporated in the salary surveys conducted in surrounding states. Those states will increase pay to incorporate the raise given to Montana commissioners. And guess what? When it does its next salary survey Montana will incorporate the raises other states gave because Montana raised its salaries. Around we go. Someone should explain to the five republicans currently on the commission this is the opposite of the trickle-down economics their party is so fond of.

I served on the PSC from 2006 to 20010. The system was the same but overall salaries were considerably lower. I began looking into this after a friend told me how high the Commission salaries had gotten. It’s time to do something about it.

First, the legislature should eliminate two positions on the PSC and go to a three member commission. That would save the commission over $200,000 per year in salaries, not to mention the additional travel costs and administrative support. We would see those savings with no negative effect on getting the job done. Second, “salary surveys” in the future should take outliers like Wyoming Commission out of the averaging equation for setting salaries. Finally, the Commission presides over legal cases just like judges. Maybe we should have non-partisan elections for Public Service Commissioners, just like judges. That is just common sense.

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Ken Toole is a former Vice Chair of the Public Service Commission. He also served in the Montana Senate and was the Chairman of the Energy and Telecommunication Committee. He is currently the vice-chair of Big Sky 55+, a newly formed progressive group representing older Montanans. He lives outside Cascade on a small farm he built off-grid.