Row officers from five county departments are requesting reconsideration of the salary caps for the top two deputies in each office.

The requests were made at Wednesday's county salary board meeting, where Diane Marburger, county treasurer, spoke for her office as well as the clerk of courts, register of wills, recorder of deeds and prothonotary, all of whom sit on the salary board.

Marburger said according to the county's compensation policy, which was adopted in December, 40% of the current chief deputies in the five row offices will reach their salary caps in the next few years and no longer be eligible for pay raises.

“This is not fair,” Marburger said. “Regrettably, as we progress through 2022 and 2023, some chief deputies will find themselves supervising union workers who are earning higher salaries.”

She said the 10 chief and second deputies in the five offices have a combined 112 years of experience in their jobs, in which they can act on behalf of the row officers, take an oath of office, handle deposits and financial transactions, are accountable for audits performed by the county and state, and adhere to confidentiality requirements.

“This speaks to the dedication, loyalty and devotion the deputies have to their positions and to the elected officers,” Marburger said.

She said with the recent adoption of a four-year salary grade scale, three of the five second deputies received a 7-cent per hour pay increase in 2020 because they had reached their maximum salary.

A fourth second deputy will receive a 4-cent increase in 2021.

“These four deputies will not receive any salary increases for the next three years,” Marburger said.

She said union employees are not subject to any salary caps and are scheduled to receive a 2.5% increase for the next three years.

“The internal inequity of the pay and the salary gap between nonunion deputies and the union workers will only broaden over the coming years because of the salary caps,” Marburger said.

She said the deputies should be eligible for annual pay raises.

“The elected officers have an obligation to the taxpayers to maintain a knowledgeable and dedicated staff to provide the needed services demanded by the taxpayers,” Marburger said. “That call is answered through the collective bargaining agreement for the union workers.”

She said a frozen wage will affect the deputies' pension and Social Security benefits as well.

“The $250 annual stipend given in lieu of a pay raise as found in the compensation policy falls woefully short when compared to a bona fide 2.5% guaranteed pay increase to those union workers they supervise,” Marburger said.

County controller Ben Holland said the compensation policy should be the document used to make salary decisions, but admitted that the policy throws red flags on occasion.

“The fundamental question is: How do we deal with this moving forward?” Holland said. “I'd like to see this be resolved.”

Commissioner Kim Geyer said whatever action is chosen will serve as a precedent for other county offices.

“The next meeting, we're going to have a whole line of people here wanting the same, so we need to be consistent,” she said.

After more discussion and input from the row officers, the commissioners voted to hold another salary board meeting within 30 days to further consider the matter.