The 14 candidates for Butler County commissioner are competing not only for the three positions on the board, but also for a salary and benefits.

Like other county employees they are eligible for health insurance, pensions and reimbursable items.

Here is a look at what these 14 candidates can earn if they become commissioners next year. They are seeking their parties’ nominations in the May 19 primary.

Annual salary

The base salary for commissioners is $87,441, with the chairman having a salary of $91,243. However, the commissioners make less than that because they have declined, for the most part, automatic annual pay increases in recent years. For 2013, Commissioner Jim Eckstein took a 2 percent pay increase.

Eckstein said he took the raise that year because all of the other nonunion employees in the county got a 2 percent raise at the same time. Eckstein also said a pay increase took effect for commissioners when the current commissioners took office in 2012.

Commissioner Bill McCarrier, who is board chairman, makes $84,676 per year, Commissioner Dale Pinkerton makes $81,148 per year and Eckstein makes $82,771 per year.

McCarrier and Pinkerton are not seeking re-election while Eckstein is running again.

McCarrier said a salary study a few years ago showed the commissioners made more money than the commissioners in surrounding counties.

“That’s the reason I didn’t take (a raise),” McCarrier said.

Pinkerton said he has not taken a pay raise in recent years.

“I’ve declined them ever since I was in office, basically,” Pinkerton, who was elected in 2008 and is in his second term, said.

During his first term, he said he took annual pay increases until he learned he was allowed to decline them. For his second term, he chose not to take any.

In 2016, the base salary will be $91,610 for the chairman and $87,793 for the other two commissioners. Starting in 2017, commissioner’s salaries will increase 1 percent per year, said Amy Wilson, chief county clerk.

In years past, commissioners’ salaries increased 4 percent per year. The commissioners voted in 2013 to cap increases at 1 percent per year starting in 2017.

Pension plans

The commissioners are eligible for a pension.

County Controller Ben Holland said elected officials can choose to opt out of the pension, but regular county employees are required to participate in the pension by state law.

“Elected officials are the only persons that can opt out of the plan,” Holland said.

Eckstein, who was started as commissioner in 2012, chose to opt out of the pension. He said he does this because it could save the county $14,000 per year.

Holland said that number is roughly what Eckstein’s pension would be at this point.

“I didn’t take it to save the people that money,” Eckstein said.

When employees retire, they get two pension checks. One is from the money they contributed during their employment and the other is from the county’s pension fund.

The minimum contribution for employees is 9 percent of their salary, which is tax deductible. Employees can contribute up to 10 additional percent, but that amount is not tax deductible.

The payment of the county portion of the pension is based on a formula of the average final salary and years of employment.

Pinkerton possibly could make about $16,000 annually when he retires at the end of the year, Holland said, saying the actual payment is not known yet.

Pinkerton said he was not aware commissioners could decline the pension when he took office, and said he still would have taken one if he had known.

McCarrier’s pension calculation is complicated by the fact he served his first term from 1996 to 1999 and was re-elected and started his second term in 2012. He received a pension in the amount of $3,141 annually from his first term. This payment stopped when he started his second term.

Holland said McCarrier could make about $5,500 annually based on his new term, and an actuary will calculate how much he should receive based on his first term.

McCarrier said the pension is a part of the employee contract.

“I think to decline a pension is foolish,” McCarrier said.

He said the county’s pension fund is healthy. If it was in trouble, he said he likely would decline the pension.

Holland said commissioners generally do not have large pensions because they normally are not in office that long unlike longtime employees or some row officers who work many years.

Health care

The county provides two Highmark health insurance plans, a PPO plan and a Flex plan.

For the PPO plan, the employee pays 10 percent of his salary with the county picking up 90 percent, said human resources director Lori Altman.

For the Flex plan, the employee pays 5 percent and the county pays 95 percent.

Single coverage for the PPO plan costs the county $475 and family coverage costs the county $1,470 per month. For the Flex plan, single coverage costs the county $476 per month and family coverage costs $1,472.

Any county employee who chooses not to take the insurance can take a benefit waiver and get paid an extra $200 per month.

McCarrier and Pinkerton take the insurance, while Eckstein takes the waiver.

Eckstein said he is on his wife’s insurance plan.

No vacation time

As far as sick time or vacation time, commissioners and other elected officials do not get any. Altman said if commissioners take time off, they simply do not show up for work and continue to collect their salaries.

Commissioners, like other county employees, have access to the county’s car pool to use a car for county business. To fill the car with gasoline, employees use the one of the county’s fleet cards.

If a commissioner wants to use a county car but none are available, they can use their own car and seek reimbursement at the IRS allowable rate of 57.5 cents per mile.

If a county car is available but the employee wants to use their own car, they can seek a reimbursement of 23 cents per mile, which is the amount allowed by the U.S. General Services Administration.

Wilson said McCarrier almost always uses his own car and does not seek reimbursement, Eckstein almost always uses a county car, and Pinkerton goes back and forth depending on the nature of the trip.

Reimbursement items

Commissioners also can seek reimbursement for travel expenses.

When traveling, Wilson said county policy is for commissioners and employees to stay at the most affordable hotel they would feel safe staying in. If commissioners attend a conference at a hotel, even though those hotels often are more expensive, Wilson said they are permitted to stay there.

As far as food, the county allows up to $10 for breakfast, $12 for lunch and $20 for dinner for trips more than 100 miles away from the county. Wilson said receipts need to be turned in for reimbursement.

The county reimburses at a lower rate for shorter trips and for food that is bought for meetings or conferences.

Employees can request a county-issued cell phone for county business at no cost. None of the three commissioners have one.

Laptop computers also are available for county business, but Wilson believes none of the commissioners have those either.

The county provides free parking for elected officials and judges, but Wilson said it is optional.