NEWBERRY COUNTY — Newberry County Council is working on a new ordinance that will determine the salaries for elected county officials.
Elected officials who would be affected are Donna Lominack (auditor), Jackie Bowers (clerk of court), Craig Newton (coroner), Kelly Nobles (probate judge), Lee Foster (sheriff) and Karen Lindler Smith (treasurer). It would not include members of County Council.
“The reason County Council is not included in this ordinance is because of a law on the books,” Councilman Leslie Hipp said. “To receive an increase, council would have to vote in open session during an election year and only after the election would the raise take effect.”
The ordinance would establish each official’s current salary as the maximum salary, except for the coroner. The coroner’s pay would increase from $34,473.32 to $45,000, which would put the salary in line with other elected officials.
The other maximum salaries would be $62,209.42 for auditor, $79,812.37 for clerk of court, $78,045.73 for probate judge, $104,270.60 for sheriff, and $60,736.87 for treasurer. The salaries do not include state supplements given to certain elected officials. Each official receives a state supplement of $1,575 while the auditor and treasurer receive a state supplement of $20,374.80.
“The origin of the non-council elected officials salaries is a study conducted more than 10 years ago by a company called Archer. Since that time, the salaries have been increased at fairly regular intervals, resulting in today’s pay levels. Archer used both private-sector and public-sector equivalents to arrive at the numbers,” County Administrator Wayne Adams said.
Sheriff Lee Foster asked that when looking at the salaries that it be taken into account that the salaries were based on a study. He further asked that it be taken into account salaries were also based on how long they have been in that position.
If the ordinance passes, council will determine if there are salary increases for elected or re-elected officials beginning in December 2016 and each subsequent December of even numbered years. This will only apply to those elected in the preceding November’s general election. Any increase will be applied to the maximum salaries for elected officials. The rate of the increase also does not need to be the same for each elected official.
An earlier version of the ordinance included a section that stated those succeeding incumbents would be paid a beginning salary equal to 20 percent less than the person they replaced and that salaries would be increased at the beginning of each successive term by 5 percent. The terms would not have to be consecutive.
Hipp said that clause needed to be removed.
“There are two distinct elements of the ordinance, and I want to make sure we do not dilute one for the other,” Hipp said. “I propose we eliminate part of the ordinance that deals with newly elected officials.”
Councilman Travis Reeder said salary should be based on experience, not how new an official is or how long they have been in office.
Council will discuss the second version of the ordinance at the personnel and intergovernmental relations meeting on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. This will allow elected officials who were not present to ask questions or voice concerns they might have.
“All of council appreciates the fine job our elected officials do for the county. No one here wants to decrease salaries, we just cannot afford to keep increasing,” Hipp said.
The ordinance does not prevent elected officials from requesting a salary increase other than the one outlined in the ordinance nor does it prevent council from granting an elected official an increase.