Hancock County Board

Hancock County Cuts Salary For Incoming Treasurer

Joy Swearingen, The Quill Correspondent

The Hancock County board reduced the salary for the county treasurer position by more than $10,000 at their meeting Monday, March 16. The meeting was held one day early, due to the March 17 primary election.

Salaries for the county treasurer, county clerk and the circuit clerk, the three office holders who are up for election in November, must be set at least 180 days before they take office on December 1, 2026.

 In the 2026 budget, the salaries for these three positions were all $65,936.

At Monday night’s meeting, the county treasurer salary was set at $55,000, with increases of $1,500 in each of the next three years to 2030. 

The county clerk salary was set at $71,000, with yearly increases of $2,000. The circuit clerk salary was set at $69,000, with yearly increases of $2,000.

Kris Pilkington, current treasurer, will retire on Nov. 30.  Shannon Kissinger, one of the two candidates running for county treasurer, addressed the board, asking about the decision to reduce the treasurer’s salary.

“In the past, it has always been as a new person comes in, they get what the previous person was being paid,” Kissinger said. “I have done some research, and from fiscal year 2018 to now it has been the exact same across the board. They are all being paid $65,936 for all the positions. 

“The responsibilities, duties and liabilities of the treasurer are not going to change. We  still have millions of dollars we are working with.”

She noted that whoever is elected will still liable for absolutely everything that the current treasurer is liable for now.

Kissinger provided information from many counties, where the three positions are all paid at near or exactly the same rate. She said that the board has until May to set the salaries and still be within the required 180 days. She asked that they table the salary decision and reconsider the reduction of the treasurer’s pay.

Before the vote to set the salaries, Finance Committee chairman, Wayne Bollin, explained that the committee works hard to keep county costs under control.

He noted that many times, when there is a change in the office holder, it happens between terms and the board cannot change the salary. This is one time when they can reduce costs.

“We are going to have a new person in there regardless. It does not diminish the value of the job at all,” Bollin said. 

“We do have to balance the budget. We do have to have financial integrity. That was our decision to change the salaries this year.” 

It was noted that there are benefits and a stipend amounting to about 30 percent more in addition the salary, which applies for all the office holders.

In other action, the board confirmed the appointment of a new public defender, Alex Whitman, who started March 1. 

A credit card with a $5,000 limit was approved for the public defender’s office. It can only be used for items within the budget and must be reconciled with receipts each month.

Elgin Berry reported applying for a $5.2 million in a federal community development grant to cover 80 percent of the next stretch of work on the Connable Road. 

Berry noted that his office received 28 letters of support from farmers, businesses, schools, EMS and others to include with the application.

“That by itself shows that there is a lot of community support to do this project,” Berry said.

The board approved Klingner and Associates’ bid for engineering work on the second phase of the La Harpe Creek Bridge.

County Board president, Mark Menn, noted that a Burlington Northern Santa Fe representative was at the February Road and Bridge committee meeting remotely, hearing concerns of residents who use the bridge to Fort Madison.  

He is slated to be at the March 30 committee meeting at 8:30 a.m., via Zoom, to bring an update to the problems of using cards for the bridge toll payment.

In other action, the board:

-  Named Ryan Weeks as noxious weed superintendent;

-  Accepted bids for bicentennial banners and book shelves;

-  Approved a resolution to replace and supersede previous measures, clarifying the duties and responsibilities of the animal control warden, and fixing compensation;

-  Approved two resolutions for annual grants related to the operation of the Hancock County Public Transportation System.