A Westmoreland County commissioner will propose slashing the salaries and eliminating health benefits for three members of the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Commissioner Kim Ward said an annual salary of more than $51,000 for each of the full-time board members, along with unlimited vacation time, is too expensive for taxpayers. She pointed to neighboring counties that save costs by hiring board members on a part-time basis.
"At the next salary board meeting I will make a motion to reduce these salaries because of the time they are at work and what other counties are doing," Ward said.
Ward, a Republican who is serving her first term as commissioner, would have to find support from three Democrats on the salary board.
Last month, the Tribune-Review reported that two members of the assessment board took more vacation than most county workers.
Records indicated longtime board member John Wilt took nearly 12 weeks of paid vacation in 2007, and board Chairwoman Barbara Moffe took more than eight weeks off. Both were reappointed to four-year terms in January.
A survey by the Tribune-Review found that Westmoreland County is the lone county in the region that uses full-time political appointees to hear property tax appeals. It also pays board members the highest salary among neighboring counties.
Appeals board members last year heard about 1,200 cases in Westmoreland County. They are required to attend six meetings a year to hear cases in which property owners are seeking exemptions from paying taxes.
In 2000, county commissioners changed the way the appeals board is compensated. Until then, the board members were considered county employees subject to its work rules, sick leave and vacation benefits.
New salaries were set, which included annual cost-of-living raises, and the appointees were given a benefits package that included medical, drug prescription, vision and life insurance, plus long-term disability and mileage reimbursement.
According to minutes from the Jan. 3, 2000, salary board meeting that authorized the change, board members specifically were exempted from county policies regarding vacations, sick and personal leave. Participation in the county's retirement system was made optional.
Ward said yesterday the financial package given to the appeals board members can no longer be justified.
"These aren't full-time jobs. There's no requirement for that. Other counties don't function like that, so we shouldn't function like this," Ward said. "Our system is outdated, and it's costing the taxpayers a lot."
After consulting a private attorney, Ward concluded there was no legal basis to rescind the board members' appointments.
But she said the salary board could vote to change their pay.
The salary board is slated to meet on March 27. Voting on the issue, provided Ward garners a second to her motion, would be the three commissioners and Controller Carmen Pedicone.
Commissioner Tom Balya, a Democrat who supported the 2000 changes, yesterday defended the structure and said he would not vote to cut board members' salaries.
"No one has made an issue about this in eight years. I'm confident that there are counties around the state that do it the same as we do it. At this point, I'm not looking to cut those people's salaries, and I'm not sure it's (legally) possible," Balya said.
Balya suggested Ward's interest in the board came about only after she was denied an appointment. Balya and Democratic Commissioner Tom Ceraso in January fired Deborah Chiado, the board's lone Republican member.
Ward voted against the reappointment of Wilt and Moffe and the new appointment of William Ferraro, a Democrat.
Ceraso could not be reached for comment.
Pedicone, a Democrat, said he has made no decision about the appeals board.
"I have to do some research and see what other counties are paying. I want to hear the arguments, pro and con," Pedicone said.
Wilt, an appeals board member since 1983, declined to comment on Ward's proposal.
"I'm here to work and do the job. Everybody has an opinion about what we do. She's a county commissioner, and I work for her. I respect her opinion," Wilt said.
Moffe and Ferraro were out of the courthouse yesterday and unavailable for comment.
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