43
Officials will make county job changes
Commissioners created another position in the county’s Veterans Affairs Office.
MERCER, Pa. — Mercer County commissioners will make several personnel changes when they meet today.
They announced Wednesday that their chief Clerk Tim Hofius will assume the administrative duties of Bill Boyle, who is retiring as director of administrative services.
Boyle originally had been personnel director. During his tenure with the county, he also assumed administration of county purchasing and maintenance. Boyle retires at the end of the year, and a human resources director was hired several months ago to assume personnel functions.
But Boyle had been working on a $15,000 contract to continue overseeing purchasing and maintenance until the end of this year.
Commissioners said Hofius, who completes one year with the county Dec. 31, will be paid $33,648 to do the combined job. His wage as of Jan. 1 would have been $27,069 doing only the chief clerk’s job.
Commissioners also created a new assistant director position in the county Veterans Affairs Office although they said they can’t afford to fill it anytime soon.
It will pay $23,589 at entry level and would bring the number of employees in the office to three. The other two employees are Director Gary Solander and one administrative assistant. The position has been created so it will be in place once the county’s cash flow improves, commissioners said.
Commissioner John Lechner said the workload at the office is increasing as a result of the nation having been at war since 2001. As a result, disability claims have increased, and the fiscal year, which ended Oct. 1, marked the first in which more than $1 million in claims were brought in for county veterans.
Already, less than three months into the current fiscal year, $600,000 in claims have been approved.
As a result, Lechner said, the office needs more help. The assistant director, when hired, would be able to travel to nursing homes to process claims for veterans who cannot come to the courthouse, as well as stand in for the director when he is absent.
Commissioners also will reclassify 11 enforcement officers in the county’s Domestic Relations Department because the current salary range is too low to compensate for additional duties that have been added through mandates and legal changes.
Commissioners said they are having trouble filling the jobs because of the low wage. The current wage range for the job is $21,165 to $30,744. The reclassification increases the salary range to $23,589 to $33,740.
All the job changes are effective Jan. 4.