County ups pay grade for position in Register of Wills office
Butler County commissioners voted 2-1 Wednesday, Aug. 28, to increase the pay rate and grade of the chief/first deputy position in the Register of Wills office.
Sarah Edwards, the county’s Register of Wills, proposed the change at the Butler County Salary Board meeting Wednesday morning, first requesting that the position’s pay grade go from grade 7, a range of between $48,762 and $68,267 a year, to grade 10, ranging from $58,155 to $81,417 a year. The commissioners ultimately approved increasing the salary from its current rate of $59,752 a year to $65,249, and increasing its pay grade to grade 9.
Edwards initially asked the new position be paid a starting rate of $66,028. She said she requested that the first deputy position get a higher pay rate because the office could have two first deputies, but it operates with only one, which ultimately saves the county money. She also said some county offices have similar positions that are in higher pay grades than the Register of Wills first deputies.
“We have been the only dual office in the county since 1992,” Edwards said. “Our deputies are lower than some of the assistant directors, some of those positions which have just been created within a handful of years.”
Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer voted in favor of the motion, and Commissioner Kevin Boozel voted against it.
Boozel said he voted “no“ on the motion because the county commission already determined the salary range for the first deputy position with aid from a third party.
“That will set a precedent moving forward of how we move grade, which will have long-term impact,” Boozel said. “If we look at grade, it changes that whole dynamic of coming in and starting which will have a rippling effect on the entire county, and that’s what I’m concerned about.”
Osche said she concurred with Edwards’ point because other office staff positions of similar caliber are in higher pay grades than the first deputy position was in the Register of Wills office.
“That’s exactly what I looked at, was all of the assistant directors and where they ranked,” Osche said. “The salaries were, to your point, fairly in line.”
The commissioners also voted to create a part-time assistant public defender position, that will be paid more than $35 per hour. Chief public defender Charles Nedz said the person in the position will primarily handle mental health commitment hearings. The job will be funded by the Indigent Defense Grant Program through December 2025.
