Schuylkill County’s 911 dispatchers will start off the new year on a high note.

County commissioners on Wednesday approved wage increases that establish a base rate of $20 an hour for all dispatchers, retroactive to Dec. 18.

Previously, trainees were paid $15.50 an hour, and earned $16.50 as newly-minted dispatchers, or telecommunicators.

Under the special agreement negotiated with AFSCME District Council 89, Local 1512, all dispatchers will earn a minimum of $20 an hour once trained.

That brings the wage range from $20 an hour to $32.19 an hour, depending on the employee’s classification.

Commissioners have been under pressure in recent months to resolve the county’s difficulty in getting and keeping dispatchers.

The 911 Communications Center has been routinely understaffed; dispatchers have been working long overtime hours, and officials have been shifting budgeted money allocated to other needs to pay for the overtime.

In September, for example, commissioners agreed to allow the 911 center to move $92,000 from one line item in its budget to another to pay for extra overtime hours that dispatchers have been working.

The increases bring Schuylkill County’s 911 workers’ pay in line with surrounding counties, said Commissioners Chairman Barron L. Hetherington.

“It involved a lot of work, a lot of involvement, and a lot of thought,” he said.

“The goal was to have an attractive starting salary for telecommunicators,” Hetherington said.

Those who are already working will receive automatic raises, he said.

“It was a complicated situation. Once you raise that starting rate, it throws everything else out of balance,” he said.

Hetherington thanked county solicitors Al Marshall and Paul Datte; County Administrator Gary Bender; 911 Director Scott Krater and Commissioner Gary J. Hess for their work on the negotiations.

“This wasn’t an easy task,” Hetherington said. “There were a lot of things interwoven. Our intent was to get a much better starting salary but at the same time not hurt anybody else who has been here several years.

“We’ve been chastised and criticized over the past several weeks for not getting this done, but it was not an easy fix.”

The effort was well worth the work.

“We now have a starting salary that is comparable to neighboring counties,” Hetherington said.

Both Hetherington and Hess voted in favor of the increases. Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. was not at the meeting as he has been barred from the courthouse as of Dec. 21 after an allegation of sexual impropriety.

Hetherington said earlier that the county has received notice that a second sexual harassment lawsuit is to be filed against Halcovage in federal court.

The first such suit continues to be heard in U.S. District Court, Scranton.

That suit was filed in March 2021 by four women who work in the courthouse. An additional federal suit, filed in October 2021 and accusing county officials of discrimination and retaliation against them for filing the first suit, also has yet to be resolved.