While the Sarpy County Board struggles to decide what to pay its top two administrators, amounts paid to comparable employees in similar jurisdictions suggest that proposed increases would not result in unusual pay levels.
Contract renewals are due for County Administrator Mark Wayne and Fiscal Administrator Brian Hanson, who both currently earn in excess of $100,000 a year.
Wayne earns just more than $121,000, while Hanson earns just more than $105,000. In addition, the county pays the full premium for both men's family health insurance plans.
If their pay increases advance as proposed, Wayne will earn about $135,000 by 2013 while Hanson's compensation will climb to almost $117,000. Countering those increases is a new policy that will require both men to contribute to their health plan premiums, an effective reduction in pay of about $3,000 each.
The increases represent an 8.1 percent raise for Wayne and a 7.2 percent raise for Hanson. Given the austere economic times, board members balked at approving immediately the contracts and voted unanimously Jan. 31 to delay approval indefinitely.
"If we were to vote today to approve these, I would be voting no," said Commissioner Jim Nekuda.
The uneasiness persisted despite a presentation by Sarpy County Human Resources Director Karen Buche that showed the raises would not move Wayne and Hanson beyond parity with similar employees in similar jurisdictions.
The county administrator of Douglas County, Kan., for example, earns $129,168 for managing a county of 110,000 people, while the administrator of Nebraska's Lancaster County earns $128,128 for managing a county of 285,000 people.
On the lower end of the scale, the administrator of Clay County, Mo., (221,000 people) earns $108,000 while the administrator of Minnehaha County, S.D. (211,000 people) earns $91,250.
Buche provided further comparisons showing that city administrators in Bellevue, La Vista and Papillion all earn more than Wayne even though the budgets they oversee are far smaller.
She provided similar comparisons demonstrating that Hanson is paid above the norm for his position but said the norms are misleading since Hanson carries an additional responsibility as the county's purchasing agent. Give that additional duty, she said, Hanson's salary is also within norms.
Commissioner Jim Warren, who has been a leading critic of the raises, said he wants to take a closer look at Buche's comparisons before voting for or against the raises.
"I think we in Sarpy County want to pay our people well, but they don't have to be the best paid in the market," he said. "We should aim for a middle line."
He also questioned some perks not available to all county employees and not generally available in the private sector.
"They can cash unused vacation time," he said. "I say if you're cashing unused vacation time you have too much vacation time."
County Board Chairman Rusty Hike said the questions that have arisen about Hanson and Wayne are being more widely addressed.
About 40 county employees, including all elected officials and their chief deputies, have their health plan premiums paid in full.
"We're are moving toward making benefits equal across the county," Hike said. "The commissioners just wanted a little bit more time to get a grasp on what the benefits are worth and what we have to do to get it right."
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
