(Clarinda) -- Salaries continue to be a hot topic in Page County as public health officials would see a more significant increase in pay in the county's preliminary budget.
By a 2-1 vote Monday afternoon, the Page County Board of Supervisors approved the county's preliminary public health budget, set by the county health board, including a 10% salary increase for the public health administrator, a 6.5% increase for Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Rhonda Grebert, and the county-wide 3% increase for all other staff members. Page County Public Health Administrator Jessica Erdman initially proposed a 20% salary increase to increase her salary more evenly with other county department heads and statewide administrator salaries.
"So even moving me up to $60,552 a year, that's still $17,000 under the state average, and that's still under the other department heads excluding me, in the county for that," Erdman said.
The statewide average for county public health administrator salaries sits at around $77,000. Additionally, County Auditor Melissa Wellhausen says Montgomery County, comparable in population and service area, has consistently been about $5,000 to $8,000 higher in health administrator salaries.
"Even when you looked at Montgomery County they were at $55,000, and I reached out to (Stephanie Burke) and they went up 5% and that put that position up to $58,000," Wellhausen explained. "So, there is a little bit of fluctuation there."
Supervisor Jacob Holmes questioned the need for that significant raise when the peak of COVID-19 may be in the past. Plus, the addition of Amy Beal taking more of an administrative assistant role, should Erdman not be in the office. However, Supervisors Chair Alan Armstrong clarified Beal would only do those administrative duties should Erdman be unavailable.
"She's going to have the training to do some of the work but she's not going to be doing it the rest of the time, she'll be doing other jobs," Armstrong emphasized. "So that's kind of a misconception when you say assistant, there is no assistant administrator, she'll just have the training and work more hours so that she can cover when there's vacation or days off."
Erdman also had asked for a 13% raise for Grebert and an increase in hours from 28 to 35 a week for Beal--all approved by the board of health. Holmes, who cast the lone dissenting vote, says he would be more in favor of a significant raise for Erdman if the salary were still down where it was two years ago.
"If I had seen this wage not change at all and it was still at $42,000 and it had been frozen for a couple years, and we're staring at this sheet I'd be thinking more 'we need to do something,'" Holmes said. "But that wouldn't be getting us to $60,000, it would probably by in the $50,000 range, and that's just how I feel about it. That doesn't mean it's right, but I don't know how we compare to everybody else. And there's everybody else we got to answer to that are doing their jobs, showing up, and being responsible for their tasks."
Holmes also drew comparisons to the Conversation Department salaries, another budget put together by a separate board. Currently, the Conservation Director and Naturalist salaries sit at $51,000 and $46,000.
Erdman asked if she couldn't get the full raises approved by the board of health, that she at least get raises comparable to surrounding counties. During its regular meeting Tuesday, the board of supervisors set a public meeting at 4 p.m. Monday with the Page County Board of Health to continue discussions on the salaries of public health officials.
