Dec. 18—Westmoreland County elected officials are getting huge raises in 2023.

Commissioners, along with row officers and judges, will receive 7.8% higher wages next year under an existing pay structure put in place more than two decades ago to ensure the county's election officials receive annual cost of living increases.

Raises for 2023 will top the 5.6% pay hike officials received at the start of this year, which had been the previous high-water mark for salary increases.

Annual raises are based on the consumer price index for Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey that is calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor. That index takes into account average consumer spending differences over the previous 12 months for food, shelter, energy and other cost of living expenses.

"I'm always writing checks out and giving money to charity," said Commissioner Sean Kertes, who as board chairman will see his annual salary jump to $95,616, a nearly $7,000 increase from his 2022 pay.

Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher will receive $92,210 next year.

"I haven't really thought about it, and I've been trying to get through this (budget) meeting for the last two weeks," Chew said.

As part of Chew's successful campaign in 2019 for his seat on the board of commissioners, he pledged to donate 60% of his salary to help fund the county's drug court program. Records from the county's controller's

office indicated that, as of last week, no donations were ever made.

Chew, when previously questioned about the promised donations, said he instead gave money to local charities, that drug court was adequately funded through other financial sources and that his pledge was only valid if the court program had a funding shortfall.

A 60% donation of Chew's salary in 2023 would be more than $55,000. He declined to comment when asked last week whether he would make that donation.

Westmoreland County's nearly 400 nonunion workers also will receive raises totaling 7.8% next year.

Commissioners and Controller Jeffrey Balzer approved pay hikes, which traditionally have mirrored the raises elected officials receive.

The county's unionized workforce of more than 1,200 employees, whose salaries are collectively bargained, will see substantially smaller raises as part of existing labor deals. Service Employees International Union Local 668 and SEIU HealthCare PA, which represent a majority of the unionized workers at the courthouse and Westmoreland Manor, signed a four-year labor contract in 2020 that called for annual 2% raises.

That contract runs through the end of 2023.

In addition to the cost-of-living raises signed off on last week, the salary board also approved wide-ranging pay hikes to behavioral health, children's bureau and planning department employees as part of an ongoing reevaluation of the county's salary scale.

Nonunion Area Agency on Aging staffers also will be paid for an additional hour each day. Those staffers, like most courthouse employees, currently work 6 1/2 hours a day.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .