The three Armstrong County Commissioners make up 3/4 of the County Salary Board.
by Jonathan Weaver
A possible wage increase to Armstrong County employees will not be made until April.
Commissioner Pat Fabian, George Skamai and Jason Renshaw, as well as County Controller Myra Miller, decided the postponement at last week’s Salary Board meeting.
Commissioner Fabian said there is a lot of uncertainty with the county’s 2016 funding plan.
“The Board does not feel comfortable giving out wage increases while not knowing our financial situation,” Fabian said. “We’re going to take it quarter-by-quarter.
“We’re not saying ‘yes’ and we’re not saying ‘no.’”
He added that the decision to postpone action is not based on individual performance, but is purely due to the financial circumstances.
Skamai said there is “very little wiggle room within the budget,” especially after the State reduced more than 30 of the contracted county jail beds at the Armstrong County Jail in Rayburn Township because of a current reduced need.
Assistant Director of Administration Jen Long said about $407,000 in revenue was received through December 2015 and another $400,000 was estimated in the 2016 budget before the reduction from almost 40 beds to nine.
Skamai said the new commissioners have been “very active.”
“We thought that (the wage increase postponement) would give us time to continue to look for ways to reduce costs, as we’ve worked within our own department to reduce costs in staffing and finding more efficient ways in doing things, Skamai said.
“We’re turning over every stone we’ve come across trying to think outside the box.”
A memo with the news was sent to all at-will employees by Long.
“Most of the feedback that I’ve received (from at-will employees), and it’s been really very little, has been positive,” Skamai said. “I think that we’re blessed with generally a very good group of people who can look at the bigger picture and understand what the county’s facing financially right now.”
During a public hearing in November 2014, then-Commissioners David Battaglia, Bob Bower and Richard Fink announced that nearly a dozen elected County employees – such as coroner, sheriff and the three county commissioners – will only receive a pay increase in 2016 if commissioners elect to give a zero through three percent raise to non-bargaining unit employees.
Salary Board members meet every other Wednesday morning.
During their first month in-office, the three new commissioners have also met with officials from all county departments, as well as some community businesses.
“Our main objective was to introduce ourselves, to have an understanding of how each department runs and to discuss some initiatives we want to bring to the forefront,” Fabian said. “We all have to work together to run a more-efficient government.”
Skamai called those meetings “very productive.”
At the end of 2015, then- Commissioners Battaglia, Bower and Fink passed a $21 million budget for 2016 with a 1.5 mill tax increase.
If County Commissioners want to make any changes to the budget, they need to be adopted by February 15.