The Board of Trustees approved a pay hike for many of the Springfield Township’s key employees Thursday, while the supervisor, clerk and treasurer all voted down personal raises.
None of the township’s employees received a raise last year.
Fire Chief Charlie Oaks saw his annual salary rise from $49,000 to $53,500 for 2007, while full-time firefighters were bumped from $34,000 to $36,000 annually. Fire department clerical received a $3.50 raise to $15 per hour.
‘That puts her in line with what we’re already paying our other part-time clerical staff,? said Treasurer Jamie Dubre, referring to Claudia Pipoly of the Springfield Township Fire Department.
In Dubre’s office, the deputy treasurer, who earned $31,000 in 2006, received a hike to $35,000. The treasurer’s assistant netted $27,600, which will increase to $28,500 for 2007.
The deputy clerk received a $1,000 increase in salary to $35,000. The clerk clerical position was changed to ‘accounts payable clerk? because of the job description and workload carried by the person in that position. The salary, set at $25,900 in 2006 was pushed to $27,600 for next year.
The supervisor’s administrative assistant saw a raise from $31,100 to $33,500.
Trustee Roger Lamont proposed a pay raise for Supervisor Collin Walls, Clerk Nancy Strole and Treasurer Jamie Dubre, all of which were voted down.
Walls earns an annual $63,800, while Strole and Dubre each net $54,700.
‘I can’t in good conscience accept a raise,? said Walls, ‘when we’ve asked our employees to start paying for part of their medical coverage.?
Because of rapidly rising insurance premiums, the board voted at the Nov. 9 meeting to mandate that single employees pay $25 per month for health insurance while married individuals contribute $50.
The board is looking into alternate options, but employees will begin paying for part of the insurance premiums Jan. 1.
The township’s building director also received a raise from $54,000 to $56,000, while the assessor saw an increase of $1,500, to put the 2007 salary at $51,500. The assessing clerk was bumped from $25,100 to $27,600.
Paid on-call firefighters will now earn an extra dollar per hour, nudging the wage to $13-$15 per hour, according to training. The assistant fire chief got a raise from $4,600 to $5,000.
Salaries of trustees David Hopper, Roger Lamont, Dennis Vallad and Marc Cooper will remain the same, at $1,200 annually, plus $100 per monthly meeting.