Richmond Township Board approves salary increases for supervisor

From the Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, edition of the Northwest Herald:

Richmond Township Board approves salary increases for supervisor
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

RICHMOND -- The Richmond Township Board approved salary increases Wednesday night that will raise the township supervisor’s pay by $10,000 after the spring 2009 election.

The township supervisor’s annual salary will be $20,000 in April 2009, and increase by $2,000 each year in the three years that follow. The board also approved raises for highway commissioner, assessor and clerk.

Despite criticism from one township trustee, Richmond Township Supervisor Tamara Valentine-Garza said the raise for her position was appropriate.

“The job itself takes about 40 hours a week,” she said. “If you take all my hours, it’s about $2 an hour.”

The highway commissioner’s salary will increase from $46,081 to $48,000 next April. Like the supervisor’s salary, the highway commissioner’s salary will increase by $2,000 years each year in the three years that follow.

The assessor’s salary will increase from $35,259 to $40,000 next April, and increase by $2,000 each year in the three years that follow.

The salary for the clerk, which is a part-time position, will increase from $5,193 to $5,200 next April. Each year, in the three years that follow, the clerk’s salary will increase by $100.

The annual salary for the four township trustees will remain at $1,200.

Valentine-Garza and Trustees Delmer Olsen, Susan Cherry and Jean Schenk all voted in favor of the raises. Trustee Adam Metz voted against the raises.

“I don’t know where the money is going to come from,” Metz said after the meeting. “If we had the money, I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but we don’t.”

Metz said he might run for the supervisor position in April.

Cherry voted in favor of the salary increases. She said the township’s leadership had earned it.

“I see the amount of hours that they put in and what a positive direction the township is moving in,” she said.