YORK – This past week, the York County Commissioners had a daunting task before them as they talked for literal hours (nearly an entire business day) about how to cut $2.6 million in spending or find alternative revenue sources.
As the proposed budget stood at that moment – with the figures presented to commissioners by the different department heads and elected officials – the bottom line of tax asking was $2.6 million over what is allowed by the county board’s authority. As explained by Commissioner Randy Obermier, who sits on the budget committee, they have to cut $2.6 million in spending or find other ways to pay for certain expenses other than using property tax dollars.
“As we go through this process, I think we should have the discussion and then we can input the new numbers to move forward,” Obermier told his fellow county board members. “And today, we are talking wages. They are the big numbers in our budget. We are $2.6 million over the asking of last year, which is way more than our authority. And the inheritance tax fund is down to about $3 million which means there is less appetite to spend that money so we will have to talk about where to find the cuts.”
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“As a committee, we talked about how the department heads got no increases last year, so we will probably need to have increases there this year,” said Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz.
There were proposals for slight increases of about 3% for the aging and transit services director as well as for the head of courthouse maintenance.
The York County Visitors Bureau Board was asking for a 6% increase for the YCVB director. Commissioners Andy Bowman and Joe Burgess asked for the justification behind a raise that would be more than double the rate for other department heads. Commissioner Obermier, who sits on the YCVB board, said that particular board was “asking for a 6% increase to make it more in line with other visitor departments in the state. Bear in mind, that director is part of the county family but is not paid through the property tax rolls (it is paid through lodging tax receipts). This was the amount the YCVB board was recommending.”
“The raise is based on duties but the increase the YCVB board is recommending is larger than any other recommendation from any other department,” Grotz said. “So we need to talk about this one.”
Obermier said the director, herself, had only asked for a 3% increase – the YCVB board was recommending the 6%. “And that board knows full well this is just a recommendation they are making. She is doing a great job and has been modernizing that office.”
“What she (the YCVB director) asked for is appropriate,” Bowman said. “The board’s recommendation is way higher.”
The veterans services board was recommending a 3% increase for the veterans service officer. Grotz noted how the veterans service officer has not been in the office for a while due to being deployed. “He has been gone, on orders from the military. That position did not get an increase last year. If we want raises based on performance, well, he hasn’t been here. So I waffle back and forth about an increase for a person who hasn’t been present.
“But at the same time, we talk about paying the position, not the person,” Burgess said.
“He would be here if he wasn’t deployed,” Bowman said. “He’s not here because he is serving in the military and that should not detract, in any way whatsoever, from an increase in wages.”
“In the past, we had a few other department heads who were out for medical reasons and their raises weren’t as large, so that’s where my head goes,” Grotz said. “But this one is different because he has orders to not be here.”
“That is part of his job so he is doing his job,” said Commissioner Deb Robertson.
Bowman proposed a raise for the weed superintendent “as he holds multiple certifications to do the job. And I will say some of these other proposals for other positions are getting ridiculous. The new pay-to-spray service has added revenue for this department and he has been achieving very effective efficiencies. He is taking this position way more seriously than anyone else in the recent past. And he’s been applying for grants and so on.”
“It comes down to what the five of us feel like, but we are more than $2 million over asking so somewhere we are going to have to find something,” Obermier said. “In my world, the evaluations should play a huge part in this. And we have to start somewhere.”
For employees in departments not run by elected officials, proposals were for 3% increases at the extension office, for a slight increase in courthouse maintenance with the wage to hold steady for the part-time maintenance worker. It was said the proposal at the roads department was 3% based on a formula and there were plans for an increase for the office manager who has been serving as a pseudo highway superintendent “to bring that up to the level of foreman.”
It was proposed the assistant at the veterans service office receive a $1 an hour raise due to holding many certifications and taking on additional tasks as the position evolved during the deployment of the service officer.
The commissioners discussed a 3% increase for dispatchers in the emergency communications center, plus an extra dollar an hour for new dispatchers when they complete their initial training. The communications director wanted a higher increase for dispatchers, noting that doing so would still only result in a 1.2% overall increase in her entire budget. She also talked about the intensity of the job and noted “law enforcement, in the past, got a substantial increase but our department saw nothing.”
“When it comes to county transportation, for instance, we still lag behind in that department when it comes to pay,” Obermier said. “We are getting there, but we are still on the bottom end of what is paid in other communities. I think we need to get the drivers’ pay up – I don’t know the amount, but I’d like to see us bumping that up a bit. I’d like to see at least another 75 cents an hour for the drivers. I think for the others, we are doing pretty well.”
Bowman said he could “get on board with that.”
“We did take a step up a year ago, but I think we still need to do more,” Obermier said.
“This is probably the first time we have ever had this much tax asking we have to work through,” Obermier said. “And yes, this discussion about people’s wages, it’s public. I say, for the time being, we put numbers into the budget and we see where we are.”
“If the budget works, are we fine with leaving the recommendations where they are at, at this point?” Grotz asked.
“The only ones still up in the air are the deputy county officials,” Obermier responded. “We still need those budget numbers and we need to look at the bottom line.”
