Council President Reese Moore said that the changes were being made to the annual salary ordinance adopted in February to ensure the borough was competitive with other municipal salaries in the county. Moore also said they aimed to ensure that all employees fit within the salary ranges given the new hiring the borough has done this year.
The changes to the ranges do not alter anyone’s salary automatically, according to Moore.
Some members of council were confused about what was actually changing. This led Moore to read off the previous ranges, as well as the new ones, for many of the borough’s positions. Moore did so from information that had not been organized for this purpose and some errors were made in the oral presentation.
Seven of the twelve positions had increases in the maximum salary when compared to February. Some of the remaining positions did not exist under the same titles in February, making a comparison difficult.
In at least one case, the salary change is being made to accommodate anew position, thatof Assistant Administrator. That position was not part of the February ordinance. Other salary range adjustments are listed to address new hires, including the Director of Public Works and the Recreation Director.
The proposed changes include an increase in the maximum salary for the mayor and council members. This February, the mayor’s salary was set at $16,068 and council members’ salaries were set at $11,477. In the proposed changes, the mayor’s salary would rise to $20,000 and council salarieswould increase to $15,000. For the elected officials, no minimum salary is listed.
It is common practice to annually adopt changes to the salary ordinance for the new year. It is less common to have a dozen salary ranges adjusted in August.The borough’s new hires appear to have created the need for immediate changes.
A salary ordinance for 2023 will most likely be introduced in January.
