Disagreements on salaries sparked a lengthy discussion among Carbon County commissioners and a department head at a public meeting last week.

The Salary Board consists of Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, Commissioner Rocky Ahner, and Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein, Controller Mark A. Sverchek, and the department head making the request.

The disagreements began when Clerk Of Courts Tyra L. Boni made her requests.

They were to establish the position of one administrative assistant at $13.84 per hour (grade 9 step A) effective Aug. 4.

Boni, Ahner and Lukasevich voted yes. Sverchek and Nothstein voted no.

Ahner said he voted to approve Boni’s request because “it is within line of what’s been done previously. There is a job description.”

He said he doesn’t think a pending salary study, which would provide a uniform system for pay scales, would be done in time to incorporate it into the new county budget.

Ahner said commissioners should make their own decisions to establish fair wages.

“We‘re losing (employees) all the time, and I think we need to make decisions to stop losing them,” he said.

Nothstein said, “It’s a bad time to do this. It stresses the importance of having that salary study done before we go and make all these changes. As much as I want to do that - I agree with what Rocky is saying.

“Unless we group these right, we are going to do nothing but create more problems.”

He asked to recess the salary board for two weeks.

“We need to take a good, hard look at what these salary increases are going to do,” he said.

Lukasevich thought the request was reasonable.

“Mrs. Boni, you have clearly, in this case, justified pay commensurate with duties and responsibilities and actual demands of the office placed upon the employees you have. You have brought forth to us a justifiable request,” he said.

The vote was the same 3-2 split for Boni’s request to establish the position of one administrative assistant for bench warrants at $13.84 per hour (grade 9 step A), effective Aug. 4.

Nothstein and Sverchek also voted against abolishing the positions of two clerical specialists at $11.38 per hour (grade 5 step A), effective Aug. 4.

The others voted in favor.

The board voted all in favor of changing the rate of one First Deputy from $20.04 per hour (grade S5 step H) to $16.30 an hour (grade 5 step A), effective Aug. 4.

In other matters, the salary board all voted in favor of President Judge Roger Nanovic’s requests.

They were:

In Court Administration, to change the rate of one law clerk from $41,423.20 a year (grade 18 step C) to $42,660.80 a year (grade 18 step D), affective Aug. 26.

For the Lansford Magisterial District Judge, to change the rate of one secretary II from $15.43 per hour (grade 7 step H) to $21.95 per hour (grade 7 step T), effective Aug. 8.

The board also favored changing the rate of one secretary I for $20.91 per hour (grade 6 step T), to $11.95 per hour (grade 6 step A), effective Aug. 8.

For the Weatherly Magisterial District Judge, to change the rate of one secretary I from $12.31 an hour grade 6 step B) to $11.95 per hour (grade 6 step A), effective Aug. 4.

For Domestic Relations, to change the rate of one Domestic Relations specialist II from $13.06 per hour (grade 6 step D) to $11.95 per hour (grade 6 step A), effective Aug. 4.

The Salary Board also all voted in favor of the Public Defender’s office request to change the salary of one full-time first assistant public defender from $68,000 per year to $70,040 per year, effective Aug. 23, and to change the rate of one legal secretary III from $13.58 per hour (grade 8 step B) to $13.18 per hour (grade 8 step A), effective Aug. 11.

A request from the Area Agency on Aging was also unanimously favored. That changed the rate of one agent care manager supervisor II from $22.30 per hour (grade S9 step E) to $19.82 per hour (grade 9 step A), effective Aug. 4.

For the Corrections Department, the board agreed to change the rate of one administrative supervisor from $16.78 per hour (grade S 5 step B) to $17.28 per hour (grade S5 step B), effective Aug. 23.