Plum council is looking at tying administrative salary increases to job performance.
Councilman Leonard Szarmach, personnel committee chairman, said Monday night that members are looking at merit-based raises rather than across-the-board increases that have been given in the past to the approximately 16 employees that include manager Michael Thomas, police Chief Jeffrey Armstrong, assistant manager Greg Bachy and finance director Michael Whitico.
Given the proposed change, Szarmach, during the meeting, asked that a motion setting the 2015 administrative salaries be tabled, and council agreed in a 4-0 vote.
Councilmen John Anderson, Michael Dell and Dave Seitz were absent.
“It's a new process, and we have to finalize it,” Szarmach said after the meeting. “Supervisors have to determine where employees fall — if they meet, don't meet or exceed expectations.”
Szarmach said council members late last year began talking about a merit-based raise pay scale.
“You don't want to reward complacency — someone who goes through the motions,” Szarmach said.
“To get a raise, the merit-based (system) is more equitable. It seems to be the trend.”
Councilman Steve “Skip” Taylor said Tuesday morning that he supports merit-based increases.
“I brought up how do we give raises across the board without any type of evaluations,” Taylor said. “We came up with the merit situation. We told Mike Thomas to come back to us next month (with the program in place).”
Szarmach said most administrative staff received between raises of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent last year.
Thomas, though, last June received nearly a $13,000 raise — from $107,000 to $119,800 — retroactive to January 2014 as part of a new two-year contract that runs through the end of 2015.
Thomas has been Plum's manager for nearly 10 years.
Previously, he was manager in Saxonburg. Thomas also would receive a year of salary as a severance if he is fired without cause, as opposed to six months as is in his previous agreement with the borough, Dell said.
Also, Armstrong, who was promoted from lieutenant to chief in January 2014, received an $18,000 boost for his new position — from $95,000 to $113,632.
Former chief Frank Monaco was paid about $100,000. Monaco received six months of severance pay, or about $50,000 — when he retired last year.
Szarmach said he expects the new salary system will be ready for a council vote during the April 13 meeting.
Karen Zapf is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-871-2367 or kzapf@tribweb.com.
