Commissioners approve more salary increases
Somerset County salary board approved a third set of salary increases for county employees in as many months, at Tuesday's regular commissioners meeting.
This time the information technologies department, including system administrator, computer tech/system analyst, system analyst/programmer and programmer/web page designer received raises of anywhere between 9% to 28%, effective Feb. 4. They will have annual salaries ranging from $32,000 to $59,000.
The commissioners also approved setting the starting salary for the position of Human Resources Assistant 2 at a range of $28,000 to $30,000 a year, effective Feb. 14.
Previous salary adjustments were made Jan. 17 retroactive to the first week of January and represented a 4% to 68% increase, included the sheriff's office, children and youth services and district attorney's office.
More:More Somerset County workers get salary raises
At the Jan. 5 meeting, the salary board set the 2023 hourly rate for part-time correctional officers for the jail; increased the hourly rates for part-time employees covered by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees contract for part-time deputy sheriff, part-time communications officer and all other AFSCME part-time employees.
The board increased the annual salaries for all AFSCME Non-Professional Bargaining Unit employees, and increased all AFSCME Professional Bargaining Unit employees. Salaries for all employees covered by the UMWA-Jail contract were increased, as were the salaries for all Somerset County Association of Professional Employees bargaining unit employees.
Also increased was the hourly rate of all part-time employees not covered by a union, as well as the salary for county chief clerk in the commissioners' office.
The county has 457 positions — 337 full-time and 120 part-time (including tax collectors) — with 205 nonunion employees and elected officials. County officials have four agreements with three unions: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Somerset County Association of Professional Employees and the United Mine Workers of America. The Somerset County Association of Professional Employees represents probation officers and probation aides. The Somerset County Jail employees union is the United Mine Workers of America.
In the 2023 spending plan without a tax increase approved in December by the commissioners, the largest cost to the county is personnel. Salary and benefit costs total $22,615,971 of the $55.8 million budget. The commissioners were able to pass a balanced budget without raising taxes by using $3.5 million from the general fund carryover and $3 million from the operating reserve. The county property tax rate remains at 13.36 mills.
At the January meeting, Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes said the money to pay the increase in salaries will come from the county's operational fund.
More:County officials developing program to stop jail reentry
Salary board minutes
Also at the salary board meeting, minutes from the Jan. 17 and 31, were still not approved by the board. Somerset County Treasurer Anthony DeLuca contends that it is his job as the salary board secretary to take the minutes of the meeting. The commissioners have repeatedly told DeLuca it has been the job of the chief clerk for many years, as an unbiased third party, to take the minutes and present them to the board for approval. The commissioners tabled taking a vote on the minutes DeLuca presented until they can go over them with him to make corrections before they are approved. The next commissioners and salary board meeting is Feb. 28.
"They are kept in perpetuity," Commission Colleen Dawson said. She said the minutes have to be correct.Chairman Gerald Walker said the minutes have to be a true, unbiased, accurate account of what happens at the salary board meeting before they can be approved for the record.
More:Somerset County commissioners versus treasurer lawsuit goes before judges
Illegal immigrants?
The commissioners took questions from members of the public at the meeting about whether there are illegal immigrants coming into the county.
They said immigrants coming into the United States are being bused to parts of the United States and they asked the commissioners how many are coming into Somerset County, where are they staying and who is paying for them to live in the county.
Tokar-Ickes said the commissioners are not aware that there have been any immigrants transported into the county or that public housing money is being used by illegal immigrants. She said the Community Action Agency, Tableland Services Inc., in Somerset, can provide these members of the public with the guidelines and qualifications for applying for housing in Somerset County to help answer their questions.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County salary board increases pay, fights over minutes issue
