HERMANN — Two of the seven Gasconade County government offices that will be filled next November will come attached with higher paychecks — one significantly higher — thanks to split decisions last Wednesday morning by the county’s Salary Commission.

The increased pay will take effect Jan. 1, 2025, with the start of the offices’ next four-year terms.

The County Coroner’s Office will receive half the total increase state law allows (up to $14,000) for the position, taking the base pay from $17,680 to a base of more than $24,000. The actual pay is higher because of 4- and 5-percent cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) granted to all county employees Jan. 1 of 2022 and Jan. 1 of this year, respectively.

The Public Administrator’s Office will receive a base-pay boost of $16,000 to bring the annual salary to $43,000. All three members of the County Commission, who are among the 10 elected officials who comprise the salary panel, were dismayed that, unlike with the case of the county coroner, an increase of less than the maximum was not an option. That was the interpretation of Salary Commission Chairman Mary E. Weston, the prosecuting attorney, and County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, both of whom combed the state legislation regarding the public administrator’s salary. They could find no such option, making a pay raise an all-or-nothing decision. The office now has a base salary of $27,000 and with the annual COLAs the pay increased to $29,494 as of Jan. 1 of this year.

“There is no in-between?” asked Northern District Associate Commissioner Jim Holland, R-Hermann.

“No, there is not,” replied Weston.

Public Administrator Kelly Thomas explained that the number of cases she now is handling qualifies the position as full-time, according to the state’s definition. Thomas said she is responsible for managing the affairs of 44 clients, some as the person’s guardian, some as guardian and conservator. Serving as guardian and conservator for one person is interpreted by the state as being two separate cases. Further, she said, more than half her clients don’t live in Gasconade County; they are patients in specialized care facilities outside the immediate or they have relocated from this county. Either way, because they were Gasconade County residents at the time they became clients, they remain part of her caseload, she said.

0“It’s probably been a full-time position for a long time,” Thomas said, referring back to the number of cases managed by her predecessor, Faye Owsley.

0The county clerk explained that the way all public administrators’ salaries are calculated was changed with legislation adopted last year by the Missouri General Assembly. “In ‘22 the legislature made it possible to make them part of the assessed valuation schedule,” Lietzow said.

The assessed valuation of all property within the county is key to officials’ salaries — and will continue to be in the next few years. The county recently hit $250 million in assessed valuation — the trigger for automatically granting $2,000 pay increases for the terms that began in 2021. The assessed valuation now sits at $298 million and the next threshold is $299,999,999.

Reaching that level would trigger another automatic pay raise, but, as it stands now, it would be the cap regarding automatic pay raises.

However, as some officials noted Wednesday morning, efforts are being made in Jefferson City to craft legislation setting additional assessed valuation thresholds that, apparently, would continue to trigger automatic pay raises.

The office’s salary received vocal support from several officeholders. County Assessor Paul Schulte said, “It needs to go to the $43,000.”

County Collector Shawn Schlottach added, “If she’s putting in the same hours as us (other officeholders), it is not fair to not consider it.”

County Coroner Jeff Arnold made the motion to grant the salary increase; Schlottach seconded the motion. The Salary Commission voted 6-3-1 to approve the new salary. The county commissioners cast the dissenting votes with the county assessor abstaining because he is related to Thomas. Voting in favor of the raise were Lietzow, Weston, Arnold, Thomas, Schlottach and County Treasurer Mike Feagan.

The holder of the County Surveyor’s Office, while an elected position, is not a member of the Salary Commission because the surveyor’s post is not a salaried position; compensation is based on the number of remonumenting projects done during a year. It was noted Wednesday morning that Surveyor Vincent Klott has indicated he will not seek re-election next year.

In the earlier vote on the salary for the County Coroner’s Office, the pay panel posted a decision of 8-2 with Holland and Presiding Commissioner Tim Schulte voting no.

Missing from the discussion were two officeholders elected countywide but who are not part of the Salary Commission. Circuit Clerk & Recorder Jennifer Schneider’s salary is provided by the state; her office’s employees are county-paid employees. Sheriff Scott Eiler was removed as a Salary Commission member as of Jan. 1, 2022, because his office’s paycheck was tied to the county’s Circuit Court associate judge’s salary by the state legislature. The sheriff is to be paid 55 percent of the total salary of the associate judge, depending on the level of assessed valuation. The office’s pay increase will be made with county tax dollars over the course of five years at about $6,000 a year, making the office the highest-paid position in county government. And, based on the upcoming new threshold, might rise even more in the next few years.

How long a sheriff’s salary stays at the top of the list is unclear. Weston, who will not be seeking another term at the end of 2026, told the Salary Commission members that she will be making an extra effort to win higher pay for part-time prosecutors.

In 3rd-Class counties, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is considered a part-time position.

“I will be working really hard for a raise for part-time prosecutors,” she said, noting that efforts are underway by the Legislative Committee of the state’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Association to craft a measure that bases prosecutors’ salaries on that of Circuit Court associate judges. Weston is a member of her association’s Legislative Committee.