~by The Scranton Journal
Raises of varying amounts were unanimously approved by the Greene County compensation board at its annual meeting on Dec. 12. The recommendations will be presented to the board of supervisors.
Members of the compensation board are Mary Jane Fields and Jim Unger (appointed by the supervisors), Steve Haupert (sheriff), Tom Heater (attorney), Tim Heisterkamp (treasurer), Guy Richardson (auditor) and Jodi Paup (recorder).
Each member of the board provided a recommendation for their respective officer.
Richardson recommended a 2.1 percent cost of living raise for the auditor. She received a sizable increase last year and did not expect anything more this year than the cost of living.
Heisterkamp recommended a 6 percent increase for the treasurer. Last year the treasurer did not want an increase because it was her first year in office, but the board approved a 2.96 percent increase. In the past year, she has made significant changes to the office: cross training employees, changes in investments which has made additional money for the county and has taken on additional responsibilities that the office did not do before.
Haupert recommended nothing less than 4 percent or $3,000 for the sheriff. He looked at counties of comparable size and the average pay for them is $81,000. With a four percent raise, that would bring sheriff Jack Williams’ salary up to the average of these counties.
Heater recommended a six percent raise for the county attorney. He also looked at counties of comparable size and wanted to keep his salary in line with them. He stated that with changes that the attorney has made within his office, he is saving the county a considerable amount of money by not having to hire outside council for specific work.
Paup was not present but sent a letter. She recommended a 3 percent increase for the recorder. Her letter stated that the recorder’s duties are completed with great satisfaction and the customers are continued to be considered a priority in the office.
Fields recommended a 3 percent increase for the supervisors. The supervisors in years past have not taken an increase, which made them fall far below state average. Last year they received a 3.6 percent increase and with this year’s 3 percent increase, they will move closer to the state average.
The board discussed each recommendation individually and looked at both a dollar amount and a percentage. They approved percentage increases: treasurer, 6 percent; attorney, 5 percent; recorder and sheriff, 4 percent; auditor and supervisors, 3 percent.
If the supervisors accept the compensation board’s recommendations, salaries would change as follows: attorney, from $99,459 to $104,432; auditor, from $62,981 to $64,870; recorder, from $60,415 to $62,832; sheriff, from $77,913 to $81,029; supervisors, from $28,893 to $29,667; and treasurer, from $59,157 to $62,707.
The board of supervisors can consider their own increase separately but the cannot increase it more than the recommended amount. If they change the recommendations of the other elected officials, they must change them by the same percentage. For example, they could reduce the recommended increase by half. They cannot award salary increases greater than recommended by the compensation board.
