Retired county official gets 17% pay raise

Jim Hook
Chambersburg Public Opinion

CHAMBERSBURG -- Former Franklin County Administrator John Hart will remain on the county payroll in 2018.

FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE

Hart would serve as project manager if Franklin County Commissioners decide to proceed with building a courthouse and office complex. Plans will be unveiled Wednesday.

Though officially retired as of Jan. 1, Hart would stay on as a project manager earning $75 an hour. The county will not pay for his pension and health benefits in 2018.

Pedestrian skybridges would connect a building and parking in the first block of Lincoln Way East to the Franklin County Courthouse Annex and F&M Trust.

Franklin County Commissioners on Tuesday approved raises for county employees as well as Hart’s position and compensation. The county has about 700 full- and part-time employees.

Employees will see raises of 1.5 percent in 2018 plus an annual bonus of $500 paid quarterly. People at the lower end of the pay scale get a greater benefit with the method, according to Commissioner Robert Thomas.

Hart’s hourly pay will be 17 percent higher in 2018 than his hourly pay as the county's chief clerk in 2017, according to Controller Harold Wissinger.

“I’m having trouble agreeing with that,” Wissinger said.

“Considering the pension and benefits, it’s not incongruent with what he was making,” Commissioner Robert Ziobrowski said.

Commissioner David Keller and County Administrator Carrie Gray negotiated the compensation with Hart. Gray said there was no comparable position in neighboring counties to make a comparison, but the rate is commensurate with what a project manager is paid in the private sector.

Hart will work up to 1,000 hours in 2018.

The county salary board approved the compensation 3-1 with Wissinger voting no.

The courthouse annex, left, is attached to the 1865 courthouse by an elevated hallway.

Last year Hart stepped away from his dual role as county administrator and chief clerk. He remained chief clerk as Gray assumed the duties of county administrator. She takes on both roles in 2018.

“The torch has been passed to a new generation,” Keller said.

“I am honored,” Gray said.

Hart, 65, said commissioners asked him to stay on.

Hart became county administrator/chief clerk in 1988. He started his carer with the county raking leaves on the county’s Franklin Farm properties and working on the bridge crew. He served as a juvenile probation officer for two years, then supervised the bridge crew before becoming director of maintenance.

The county salary board also approved compensation of $22 to $29 an hour for a communication specialist who will act as a county spokesperson and manage internal and external communications, including social media. The position has yet to be advertised.

The person will make residents aware of county programs that are available, Keller said.

Jim Hook, 717-262-4759