Bradford County continues to raise salaries in response to tight job market

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (Staff Writer)
Published: January 27, 2012

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TOWANDA - In an attempt to retain employees in a tight job market, the Bradford County Salary Board on Thursday raised the pay grade of additional county employees, this time increasing the salaries of all seven full-time sheriff's deputies from 7.1 percent to 12.5 percent.

In addition, the Bradford County commissioners, who hold most of the seats on the Salary Board, heard Thursday from two residents regarding the county's role in preserving local farms and addressing the environmental effects of natural gas drilling.

"We do need to stay competitive" in the area's job market, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said, explaining the need for the raises for the deputies. He also said the county has a great bunch of deputies, and that they deserve the raise.

The raises given to the sheriff's deputies includes the 2 percent cost-of-living increase that was given to all county employees at the beginning of this year, county Human Resources Director Mark Agutter said.

The raise given to Chief Deputy Ken Foss brings his salary to $43,306, while the new salaries of the other deputies range from $31,408 to $36,442, according to written information provided by the commissioners' office.

Because the raises in the Sheriff's Office will be offset by the elimination of a part-time sheriff's deputy position as well as some other changes, they "will have no impact on Bradford County's General Fund," McLinko said. He said the elimination of the part-time deputy sheriff position was proposed by the sheriff.

Asked in an interview whether the elimination of the part-time deputy position will cause a problem for his department, Walters said: "That's the sacrifice I've got to make, because I'm continuously losing deputies to other agencies for better pay."

Because of the loss of employees, the sheriff's department often has an unfilled position, he said, adding: "I'm kind of used to it."

McLinko said the personnel changes in the Sheriff's Office are part of an attempt to make a "leaner, smarter and more efficient" workforce in the county government. He said that achieving that goal began recently when the commissioners accepted Register and Recorder Shirley Rockefeller's proposal to not fill a vacant position in her office in exchange for increasing the salaries of her employees.

In response to the tight local job market, the Bradford County Salary Board on Dec. 29 had raised the salaries of 27 other positions in the county government by approximately 6 percent, which included the 2 percent cost of living increase.

At Thursday's meeting of the commissioners, Sheshequin Township resident Carolyn Knapp said she had read recently that the county is going to have 15 compressor stations approved along with a possible three frac water treatment plants.

"What will the county do in the way of baseline (testing) for air, soil and water surrounding these areas as well as (instituting) continuous monitoring to ensure the clean air" that county residents and future generations will breathe? Knapp asked.

Both commissioners Doug McLinko and Daryl Miller said they would rely on the DEP to address any possible environmental impacts.

"As far as I am concerned, the DEP is doing a good job," Miller said.

Resident Buddy Crockett of Sayre commended the commissioners for traveling to New Mexico earlier this month "to find out the problems that other counties have experienced (in relation to gas drilling) and how to deal with them."

While Sheshequin Township resident Carol French had asked the commissioners last week to do more to preserve local agriculture, Crockett said he didn't see a role for the commissioners in influencing farmers to remain in agriculture.

McLinko and Miller said that while some local farmers are getting out of agriculture, others are expanding their operations or buying back herds to get back into dairy farming.

On Thursday, the commissioners approved spending $34,080 on the county's Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, where the county purchases conservation easements on farms so that only farming can take place on the property in perpetuity. The $34,080 comes from the interest earned on Clean & Green rollback tax penalties, the commissioners said.

State dollars also fund the easement program.

When the county's Agricultural Conservation Easement Program began 10 years ago, the commissioners used money from the county's General Fund for the first couple of years to help purchase the easements, Bradford County Fiscal Director Joan Sanderson said.

Then the county switched from using General Fund dollars for the program to using only the interest earned on the tax penalties, she said.

Last year, there was "an astonishing amount" in interest earnings from the tax penalties that was placed in the easement program, "so the county doesn't really need to put any money (from the General Fund) into the program to keep it healthy," McLinko said.

Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith was absent from Thursday's meeting because he was attending a meeting of the board of directors of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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