By VICKI URBANIK

For the second year in a row, Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel went to bat for increased pay for the county’s child support director. This time around, he got at least part of his request granted.

The council on Tuesday voted 4-2 to boost the contractual pay for Child Support Director Bruce Dumas, from $40,000 to $45,000, and voted 5-1 to grant two deputy prosecutors an additional $10,000 each.

In both cases, council member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, protested. She particularly argued against the higher pay for Dumas, saying that he only works two and a half to three days a week.

Several other county departments, including the courts, the auditor and the coroner, also have higher pay hike requests pending this budget session. The council has decided to put off such salary decisions until closer to the end of the budget hearings.

But unlike the other departments, the prosecutor pay hikes would come from special funds under Gensel’s authority outside of the main county general fund.

Stevenson, an employee of the county clerk’s office, said it’s not fair to other departments that don’t have special funds with which to award raises.

Gensel argued, on the other hand, that the pay adjustments are warranted. The two prosecuting attorneys are both seasoned employees who could make considerably more in the private sector, he said, adding that the perks of working for county government only go so far when it comes to professional staff.

He also said the county has benefited greatly with Dumas, citing state awards won for its increased collections. As he did last year, Gensel originally sought a contractual increase of $10,000 for Dumas. Part of the increase is to make up for ill-advised tax information that Dumas received when he was first negotiating the contract a few years ago, he said, when the council decided to make the position a contracted one instead of a regular full-time employee.

Council members Karen Conover, R-3rd, and Jim Burge, R-at large, both supported the higher amount for Dumas. Conover said Dumas’ contract hasn’t been adjusted for years, while Burge said special funds, like the one at issue for the prosecutor, are intended to give the department head some flexibility.

But Stevenson objected: “We need to be fair across the board.”

Agreeing was member Dan Whitten, D-at large, who said he knows Dumas does a fine job but that he has a problem with a part-time post getting $50,000 when so many other full-time employees don’t come close to that pay level.

The issue came to a close after member Michael Bucko, D-4th, suggested a compromise hike of $5,000.

Election Pay Plea

With the exception of state-mandated raises for the adult and juvenile probation officers, the salary adjustments made for the prosecutor’s office were the first approved this budget session.

Last week, County Coroner Victoria Deppe made a plea to practically double her pay from $25,010 to $50,000. She cited the increasing caseload, the full-time hours she spends on the job, her on-call hours and a comparison with other county coroners as justification for the higher pay.

Also last week, two county judges urged the council to approve higher pay levels for court staff, saying that some seasoned court employees earn less and get less benefits than newly hired county employees. County Auditor James Kopp also has a pending request to adjust some of his staffing pay levels.

On Monday, another plea for an increased salary came from Voter Registration Democrat chair Kathy Kozuszek. In the absence of an election division director, she said the county needs to properly compensate the Voter Registration officials for the increasing workload and long hours on the job.

Kozuszek said without a pay boost, she personally will have to take another job and will be unable to work past the 4:30 p.m., as she now does. The pay for the two Voter Registration heads is now $33,076; Kozuszek suggested an increase of $10,000 or so.

Conover said many employees, including those in the Voter Registration office, deserve better pay. “You two are worth your weight in gold,” she said to Kozuszek and her Republican counterpart, Sundae Kubacki.

Posted 8/19/2008