The Board of Supervisors approved a 3 percent pay raise for the
county’s department heads Tuesday, bringing department heads in
line with other county workers who received the same increase
earlier this year.
Hollister – The Board of Supervisors approved a 3 percent pay raise for the county’s department heads Tuesday, bringing department heads in line with other county workers who received the same increase earlier this year.
Starting on Jan. 1, each of the county’s 15 department heads will receive a 3 percent cost of living adjustment that will stick the county with a $40,000 a year bill, according to County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson. The pay raise was the result of negotiations between county administrators and representatives of the department heads, Thompson said.
The 3 percent salary increase brings department heads in line with the county’s union workers who received a 3 percent COLA earlier this year, Board Chair Reb Monaco said.
Elected department heads, such as the sheriff and district attorney, will also receive the salary increase. The pay raises will range from an increase of about $50 a month for Marshal Robert Scattini – who makes less than $20,000 per year – to increases of about $300 a month for District Attorney John Sarsfield, Sheriff Curtis Hill and Clerk-Auditor-Recorder John Hodges – all who make more than $100,000 annually.
An ordinance passed in 2002 allows board members to give themselves the same 3 percent raise, but they chose not to Tuesday because of the tough financial times the county is facing, Supervisor Don Marcus said.
“We all as a board agreed we’d forgo our wage increase just to show good faith to staff, the community and county because we are in a budget crunch,” he said. Supervisors currently receive a salary of $3,621 a month in addition to benefits, compensation for gas mileage to and from board meetings and a $100 a month car allowance.
In March, supervisors approved a 3 percent pay raise for department heads and elected officials that was effective retroactively as of Dec. 1, 2004. It was the first pay increase that department heads had received in two years.
The county’s union workers also got a pay raise this year. In October, after months of negotiations between the county and the Salinas-based Service Employees International Union Local 817, the county agreed to amend the workers’ contract with the county – giving workers a 3 percent raise.
The three-year contract gave county employees a 3 percent wage increase in the first year of the contract and a 1 percent increase each year for the two remaining years. Under the amended version, employees will receive a 3 percent increase this year as they did last year, but no increase in 2006. The agreement also precludes further wage increase discussions for the remainder of the contract, which ends September 2007.
The worker’s 3 percent increase cost the county about $285,000 this year.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
