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| Melissa Shafer |
Someone complained anonymously, "THE REAL PROBLEM I HAVE IS THE $10,000.00 RAISE BOTH THE MANAGER AND ASSISTANT MANAGER GOT. $10,000.00 EACH. AND THIS WAS ADDED AFTER THE PUBLIC BUDGET MEETINGS. SOMETIME BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND MONDAY NIGHT THEY WERE BOTH GIVEN $10,000.00 RAISES AND YOU PEOPLE ARE CRYING ABOUT CALLING A LIAR A LIAR ! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN WITHOUT INFORMING THE PUBLIC. AM GOING TO ASK BERNIE TO LOOK INTO THIS. TALK ABOUT YOUR BACK DOOR DEALING. AND SHAFER AND DAVIS KEEP SPOUTING TRANSPARENCY. WHERE THE TRANSPARENCY HERE ?"
There certainly is no transparency in $10,000 raises slipped into a budget after the final hearing. But when someone posts anonymously and uses the CAPSLOCK button, those are two red flags. What I have learned is that both Administrators received the raises claimed, but in an open and transparent process. Moreover, the raises are overdue.
According to a 2016 salary study of Lehigh Valley township and borough managers, the following compensation packages (salary plus benefits) were being paid: Bethlehem Tp- $101,400; Emmaus - $84,718; Forks - $99,184; Hanover (NorCo) - $121,771; Lower Macungie - $121,206; Lower Saucon - $84,496; North Whitehall - $107,186; Palmer - $104,887; Salisbury - $103,043; South Whitehall- $108,604; Upper Macungie - $128,974; Upper Saucon - $95,093; and Whitehall - $86,331. Bethlehem Township is exceeded in population only by Whitehall and Lower Macungie.
According to several Commissioners, another municipality had offered Doug Bruce a Township Manager position, and at a higher salary than he currently receives. They wanted him to stay, and also realized that Shafer is underpaid compared to smaller Lehigh Valley communities.
The proposal to increase salaries was made prior to the final budget hearing, and all Commissioners supported the raise. No one spoke against it.
The increases were a part of the advertised budget. So you could say that the salaries are too high, but this was done with complete transparency and no objection.
For what it's worth, I think it was the right decision.
43 comments:
Who gives a crap what some overpriced non-profit insiders claim is a good salary. All these government types and non-profits are handing out big raises and big salaries. If you like them it is great, if you don't you complain.
Either way we the taxpayers take it up the mineshaft!
To be meaningful, it wpuld be interesting to see how these salaries stack up against total budget, population, and size of police force.
You are joking. People can be targeted by governments. You have claimed Pawlowski did that to some widow. You think others won't . Code enforcers, assessors, police. You really want citizens to put targets on their backs>?
The salaries are out of control, and will be the governments and non-profits ultimate problem.
But go ahead and call people cowards. You are the one posting these fluff pieces.
They managed to afford these raises by cutting the budgets of both volunteer fire companies.
They deserve the raises. Its Christmas!
How many days a year does Ms Shaffer allegedly work from home? She's only been employed a couple of years, making good money and great benefits so how do you feel she's under compensated? Doug Bruce can leave, he's a body that can be replaced and at a lower salary. He's dead wood!
Hanover Township sets the bar for this and others in Northampton County. Because of the numerous Industrial Parks and the taxes they generate, they can afford almost anything. Look at the Colonial Regional Police, they keep feeding that spending platform with no end in sight. [It will be interesting to see how much slack they will pickup because of Bath's departure in 2019]. Because of this, other townships feel they have to keep up with the Jones's. Right now, Bethlehem Township pays a third of their budget for police protection. Whoever they get to do their collective bargaining in the township completely fails and the Board of Supervisors allows this; just like they fail in giving out 10 and 20% raises to their administrators.
keep electing Republicans to Bethlehem Twp and this underhanded fiscal conservative type moves is what you will keep getting
First, nothing was underhanded. Second, three of the five Comm'rs are Dems.
"You are joking. People can be targeted by governments. You have claimed Pawlowski did that to some widow. You think others won't . Code enforcers, assessors, police. You really want citizens to put targets on their backs>?"
In other words, you are a coward. I get it.
" Doug Bruce can leave, he's a body that can be replaced and at a lower salary. He's dead wood!"
And he was going ti leave, but BT wanted to keep him. They apparently do not share your anonymous assessment of Doug. I know, you're afraid of him, too.
"How many days a year does Ms Shaffer allegedly work from home? She's only been employed a couple of years, making good money and great benefits so how do you feel she's under compensated?:
By looking at what other managers in this area are paid, which I listed in my post. It's not something I "feel," it is factually accurate. I personally "feel" that you get what you pay for. If you pay lousy wages, you get lousy employees.
As for working from home, I do not go in there with a time clock. I am not Amy Trapp. What I can say is that when I contact her, I get a response within a few hours. She is one of the most responsive public managers I have encountered.
"To be meaningful, it wpuld be interesting to see how these salaries stack up against total budget, population, and size of police force"
It was, and as I pointed out, BT has a higher population than any of the communities mentioned except for Whitehall and Lower Mac. No matter how you slice it, Melissa needed a raise.
Wow, local municipalities are paying better than the county executive! Again, you get what you pay for.
My 98 year old grandmother needs a raise simply to pay her taxes and stay in her home of 72 years in Bethlehem Twp. Who is it you say "needs" a raise?
@9:24
Your grandmother should be in a nursing home and not living by herself anyway
Public employers use salary studies selectively. They use them to justify raises to political and appointed positions, but a study showing the rank and file are under compensated will usually be discredited.
Today it'normal to work from home. Nothing unusual with it.
I don't know how the bump for the Manager is justified. $192.70 more per week seems a bit excessive when you're already pulling in $1923.07 a week. You have taxpayers who don't even make as much as her raise.
Actually my math is off a little on the second number. I used 100,000 instead of 105,000 so it's low. It should say she's already making 2019.23 a week.
By Census Population
Lower Mac. 30,633 $121,206. No Police
Whitehall. 26,738. $86,331
Beth Twps. 23,730. $101,400
PalmerTwp. 20,691. $104,887
Upper Mac. 20,063 $128,947
South WH. 19,180. $108,604
North WH. 15,703. $107,186
Upper Sauc.14,803. $95,093
Forks Twp. 14,721. $99,184
Salisbury. 13,505. $103,043
Emmaus. 11,211 $84,718
And the township offices are closed today at noon??? WTF
Mr. Coward Allen, you could have taken a break from the keyboard and have gone to a meeting. But you typically wait until after the fact. Let me guess, you are afraid of Melissa Shafer, too.
The reality is that far too many people are paid too little for what they do. That needs to change with a little less going to corporate CEOs.
This resentment agains5 a decent wage just enables miserly bosses to keep your own pay in check.
11:09, heaven forbid rhat they celebrate Christmas.
“Public employers use salary studies selectively. They use them to justify raises to political and appointed positions, but a study showing the rank and file are under compensated will usually be discredited. ”
——- in other words, you don’t like what the data reveal, so you create an excuse to reject it.
Christmas is Monday so why the half day with pay today?
Give me a break.
A Toast to all at the Township! Raises for everyone! Trump just cut taxes and that means more in everyone’s pockets including the Township! Merry Christmas. Signed a Taxpayer.
Both Melissa and Doug are fine people who respond quickly and efficiently to every request I have made no matter how unreasonable my request might be. They do their jobs efficiently, effectively, and professionally. And they have never called me the derogatory names I deserve to be called...but 2018 is a new year.
Merry Christmas Bernie & Mr. Hedrick! Peace on Earth and Good Will to All!
I must have hit a nerve since you went straight to name calling. I'd forgotten how you hate it when folks point out the numbers taxpayers are getting fleeced with by these public employees, like when the ET does it. My bad.
My point was it'd be nice if they were a little more miserly with taxpayer money. There was no reason to start off in full blown asshole mode, but hey, you do you.
Merry Christmas anyway.
John Dillinger to bank teller, "this is not a stick-up, it's no more or less than I get from any other bank"
The same people (almost all conservatives) who complain about paying government employees a fair wage, will in the next breath complain about government being inept and inefficient. You cannot have it both ways. None of these salaries are extravagant, especially given the amount of responsibility involved. Complain all you want about a lack of transparency when it exists, because that is an important part of any government employee's responsibility. But quitchurbitchin about salaries like this. After all they are the ones that have to put up with you!!!
Today, just before school was over, a Nixle alert went out, warning people to stay away from 2d and Dennis and to shelter in place if they lived in the vicinity. A man who may have shot and killed his significant other was involved in a shootout with police.
Thanks to Nixel, school students were alerted and so were people who may have been planning to visit that area. When the scene was secured, another Nixle went out.
This is the king of government transparency that saves lives. Ansd Manager Melissa Shafer is largely responsible.
The fact that more people are not dead is thanks to the township's very professional police department, the one that was slammed by anonymous cowards earlier today.
Now I'd expect the tea party to bitch, and they are concentrated in BT, but I have never heard them complain even the slightest about police protection.
I know the people who will complain. IT is not the tea party.
"This is the king of government transparency that saves lives. Ansd Manager Melissa Shafer is largely responsible."
A bot of a stretch, no? You are in love O'Hare.
Bernie please clarify the compensation amounts you have listed for BT and the study. Are they salary or salary plus benefits, and if benefits are included is that all benefits ( such as health ins, pension cell phone etc)
Ms Shaffer is simply signing checks which anyone could do sitting at her desk. She's not going to be around much longer and is simply using township taxpayer dollars to get a job closer to home. Her salary + benefits are over $200,000 yet she still taps the till for staff lunches as do all administrators in the township. Monthly p-card has the evidence, see for your selves. Bernie thinks that's OK, I don't. Used to be a time when local govt staffers didn't make enough salary but boy ole boy have things changed and in Bethlehem Twp, they've become fat cats...
"The fact that more people are not dead is thanks to the township's very professional police department, the one that was slammed by anonymous cowards earlier today."
I'm glad you say that Bernie. I began ignoring the yahoo(s) who do come on here and criticize our police dept. Anymore I dismiss the comments as coming from the fringe, that would never come to pass, but do worry that the drip, drip, drip of negative comments (even if just coming from a fringe few) could color people's perceptions of the dept. We have a Dept that has grown in size and professionalism under Chief Pancoast, and with the support of Boards over the years. For a Twp our size and location, having our own Dept is one of the most basic of essential municipal services. Just the past few months they have now had to deal with two stand-offs, let alone the rest of the gambit from drugs, theft, prostitution, etc. And to complain, as the person above does, that it is one third of the budget, again, it is a basic service. It is also a matter of perspective in comparison to the overall budget. I thought I read recently on line a PA Economy League report that said many municipalities the police tax burden (I don't like that wording, but I think is how it was used) was much higher than what we have. To suggest regionaling a basic function, or sponging off the State Police like some even well off Twps do, are ideas that only a fringe minority would even entertain.
As to managerial compensation. I agree that there is a balance between being a public servant and fairly compensated. It is is not private sector, but it is still management of a large budget, services, and staff. Also the compensation relationship between Manager and his/her Dept heads. Not knowing enough of the current particulars, I'll leave it at that. I do recall, however, when the Twp had conducted a search in the early 2000s, even then some were applying that were already making in the 3 figures back. Again, its a balance involving tax dollars.
Anyway, Merry Christmas Bernie and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
OLC..are you suggesting the per capita fee for municipalities is justified and is it too high, too low, or just right? If you take the basic cost of providing police coverage for all LV twps and boroughs, I suspect you will find the state fee is less than the avg per capita costs for municipalites that provide coverage. I agree with you that police is one of the most imporrtant services and reason municipal govts exist. In some state like FL, they have County wide services and or Sheriffs dept have more municipal impact. In the LV, you have larger twps like Bethlehem Twps, Salisbury, South Whitehall, and Whitehall that fully fund their departments. Upper Saucon who is fully equipped by Lehigh County gaming grants, and LMT who rely exusively on PSP. I support the per capita assessment.
9:56, ,her compensation as I listed it includes salary and all other benefits. It is not $200,000.; it is what I said it is. Why do you spread information you must know is false?
”"This is the king of government transparency that saves lives. Ansd Manager Melissa Shafer is largely responsible."
A bot of a stretch, no? You are in love O'Hare. ”
No stretch at all. Had this been kept hush hush some kids on their way home from school could have been hit by a stray bullet or may have gotten involved. This kind of transparency does save lives, and a manager who provides that kind of transparency deserves a payraise.
11:35, I do feel that municipalities that rely on PSP should be assessed, and more so. Just as we all end up paying for those who show up at the ER with no insurance, we all end up paying for those who refuse to pay for their own, or to regionalize where logical.
Specifically back to BT, however, you cannot compare every municipality police budget strictly on a per capita basis. To do so is akin to comparing apples to apples, when the reality is more apples to oranges. I take a more holistic viewpoint. BT's population explosion was mid-90s to the 2008-09 recession. We are still growing some, but slowing as we will be largely (not completely) built out residentially after Madison Farms. However, the volume and nature of activity have continued to increase for a host of reasons from changing demographics, access to 22/33/78, growing commercial and business areas, evolving FHS/NCC, location between Easton/Bethlehem, etc. We are not some sleepy little Twp and we cannot just strictly count heads and say that is the sole standard a public safety budget should be judged by.
I agree that no government entity should ever feel they have a blank check, but likewise, realism and common sense should be the guiding principles to maintain our quality of life.
Too much to do, so checking out. Enjoy Christmas with family and friends.
Update comment. Whitehall Township is governed by a Home Rule Charter that calls for a full time elected Mayor and full time appointed Deputy Mayor. The salary for the Mayor as approved by the Board of Commissioners covers four years and is approved prior to the Primary election for Mayor. In 2017 the salary was $89,618.90,in 2018 $91, 859.37 and in 2019 $94,155.85. The Deputy Mayor salary is part of the administration portion of the annual budget and is comparable to that of the Mayor. Whitehall Township is ranked the fourth largest municipality in the Lehigh Valley.
@Whitehall Township. You are on spot. This why a township the size of Whitehall and the complexities within are a bureaucratic nightmare to administrate. Their top two executives, [Mayor and Deputy Mayor], seem to be underpaid in their relationship to other municipal managers in the Lehigh Valley. But saying that, they are dedicated and do a great job at handling it.
As far as the police department goes, BT's per Capita cost for police protection is $221.31, however their cost per officer is $161,067. Both of these figures can be used in Act 111 arbitration. The municipality can use the former cost as too high, while the police can use the latter as base line. So who is Right? Depends on who needs their service!
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