SOUTH ORANGE — Last week, the News-Record reported that while most South Orange non-union and supervisory personnel received 1.9- or 2-percent salary increase, others received significantly more or less.
While the numbers reported last week were correct, village Trustee Howard Levison explained in a phone interview last week that the changes above or below the flat 2-percent pay raise were due to contract agreements, changes in part-time employee contracts and new employees in certain positions.
According to Levison, positions such as the municipal clerk, and those in the fire and police departments, saw fluctuations because new employees had filled the spots. While the employees currently in these positions did not see a change in salary, compared with their predecessors, there were significant changes.
Additionally, Deputy Municipal Clerk Shinell Smith, received a large pay raise due to completing her municipal clerk certification, according to Levison. It had been a condition in her contract that she would see a pay increase upon receiving her certification.
Lastly, part-time employees, such as the village prosecutor, saw increases because their health insurance is no longer covered by the village.
“We’re actually saving money with part-time employees,” Levison said.
These stipulations and changes prompted the changes that rose above or fell below the 2-percent salary raise seen by all other non-union and supervisory personnel. The positions of deputy municipal clerk saw an increase of 9.25 percent; fire chief saw a decrease of 0.86 percent; magistrate saw a decrease of 16 percent; municipal clerk saw an increase of 8.1 percent; officer manager saw an increase of only 0.49 percent; and village prosecutor saw an increase of 13.6 percent.
“I just don’t want residents to think we randomly raised certain people’s salaries for personal reasons,” Levison told the News-Record.