Centre County proposed salary increases for elected officials. How much will they make?

The Centre County Commissioners have laid the groundwork to set the salaries for the next term of elected officials.

During their Thursday meeting, the board approved advertising the ordinance that establishes salaries for row officers beginning in 2024. John Franek, county administrator, said the proposed ordinance calls for a 3% annual increase beginning in 2024. That will stay in place for the remainder of the term.

Along with the county commissioners, the ordinance will apply to the county’s controller, coroner, recorder of deeds, register of wills, prothonotary, sheriff, treasurer and jury commissioners.

Franek, reading from the proposed ordinance, added: “The salaries of the county commissioners, controller, coroner, row officers shall be increased by the lesser of the percentage of increase in the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Urban Consumers for the most recent 12 month period, as reflected in the annual percentage column listed in the CPI in December, when applicable, or 3%.”

Commissioner Michael Pipe said even though the current board is setting the salary, it does not necessarily mean they will be the ones to receive it.

“Even though we are the ones to vote on this, there’s no guarantee that any of us — the people around this table that served as row officers — will receive this, it’s up to the voters to decide that, to see who makes it in those seats. So we always are humble in saying that this is not for us. It’s for setting up the county for future success,” Pipe said.

The last time the board set the salary for county officers was in 2018, which is valid from 2020 until 2023. Then, the board voted on a 1.5% annual increase. With that annual increase, by 2023 the commissioners will be paid $79,607 and other row officers will be paid $72,024, with the exception of jury commissioners. That term was for 2022 until 2025; by 2025 the jury commissioners will make $16,716.

With the 3% increase, beginning in 2024 the board of commissioners will be paid $81,995.

The proposal also includes a one time salary adjustment of $2,000 for all of the row officers as an effort to “close the gap” between the commissioners’ salary and the row officers. Pipe said that suggestion was part of feedback gathered from some county row officers during a recent public meeting.

The county looked at the salary difference between commissioners and row officers in other similar-sized counties and the surrounding counties to come to that number, Pipe said.

“Our row officers, all of them really, day in and day out do great work for the county. And it just allows there to be a little bit less of a difference between them,” Pipe said.

With the 3% increase and one time adjustment of $2,000, the row officers will be paid $76,184 beginning in 2024. The register of wills and the prothonotary will receive an additional $2,000 annually for serving as the clerk of Orphans Court and clerk of courts, Franek said. That has been in place “for quite some time,” he said.

Commissioner Steve Dershem said there are some counties that have different salary rates for different row officers. But Centre County does not.

“And that’s something that Centre County has always strived not to do by treating all the row offices equally,” Dershem said. “It’s sometimes difficult, but I think it’s a better way, a better path forward.”

The state sets the salary for the district attorney.

Approval of the ordinance itself will take place at a future meeting.