Commissioners with a “do-over” on elected officials’ pay hikes

LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Clinton County Commissioners, at their Thursday meeting, approved for a second time a new pay scale for county officials elected in 2023 to begin their terms of office in 2024.

The county board at a night meeting on Dec. 13 had approved the same 2.5% pay increases but it was determined that meeting had not been properly advertised. Board chairman Miles Kessinger said the county solicitor subsequently told the board that mistake was correctable, and the commissioners could vote again on the issue, which happened Thursday.

The 2.5% hikes will cover the next board of commissioners, along with the county register & recorder, sheriff, prothonotary and the three auditor posts; the hikes will be in effect each year, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.

The board approval drew criticism from two phone callers to the meeting. Michele Whitney, an unsuccessful candidate for commissioner in 2020, called the raises “insane” and said the county should be cutting its budget. Larry Liguori from Beech Creek said the new pay scale is “obscene”

Commissioner Angela Harding defended the action. She said the county had done its research on the issue and found that the Clinton County pay scale for elected officials was in the bottom 10 percentile among Pennsylvania counties.

The 2024 pay scale for those elected in 2023:

Commissioner $66,414

Register & Recorder $65,455.57

Sheriff $65,455.57

Prothonotary $65,455.57

Auditors $26,272.27