CLAY COUNTY, Mo. – Three county administrators are getting pay increases, totaling more than $75,000.
The Clay County Commission voted last week for the raises in a 2-to-1 vote. Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte voted against the pay increases.
“I think something is very troubling is that we’re giving contracts out with these golden parachutes and that even as troubling is that these contracts contain a very large salary increases,” he said.
Here are the Assistant County Administrators and the numbers:
- Laurie Portwood: current $107,879.72; increase $140,267
- Nicole Brown: current $86,133.32; increase $111,974
- Brad Garrett: current $86,133.32; increase $103,363
The new salaries will begin Nov. 1.
The pay increases come in the wake of state audit that’s set to start before the end of this year. Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway is investigating Clay County and its spending following a petition signed by more than 9,000 residents.
“They`re not asking the taxpayers what they wanna spend this money on,” Clay County resident Sherry Duffett said. “They are just saying, ‘We`re going to do this, and we`re going to do this.'”
Portwood was charged with tampering with county documents. She waived her right to a trial and agreed to community service.
One of the employees getting an increase, Nicole Brown, said the increase is due to significant additional job duties. Clay County Administrator and Chief Budget Officer Dean Brookshier resigned from his role in July.
In a statement, Brown wrote:
“The employment agreements approved by the Clay County Commission fairly compensate Assistant County Administrators for significant additional job duties. Earlier this year, the Commission delegated the duties of the former Administrator to three qualified and professional Assistant County Administrators.”
But the statement Brown provided didn’t answer several questions FOX4 asked. Read our full request here.
Nolte disputes Brown’s reasoning for the increase.
“The duties that they had performed under Mr. Brookshire, they continued to perform,” he said. “This is no comment on him as an employee or for better or worse, but they pretty much operated in the same way they had previously.”
Neither of the other two commissioners responded to FOX4’s requests for comment. Read Clay County’s statement sent to FOX4 here.