On Dec. 18 by a vote of 2-1 the Pacific County PUD Commissioners voted to approve a 1.5% pay increase for non-union PUD employees effective Jan. 1. Commissioners Mike Swanson and Diana Thompson both voted for the increase while the lone nay came from Commissioner Dick Anderson.
At the meeting General Manager Jason Dunsmoor asked that non-union employees be given an increase in pay to stay more competitive with other PUD districts in the state, even though Dunsmoor told The Chinook Observer he did not have specifics on how much other PUDs are paying their workers.
Speaking with Commissioner Anderson he told us, "I'm not worried about losing anyone from our PUD to others over higher pay, because I don't really see that possible."
The reasoning behind the approval in pay increases by the commissioners, social security had a cost of living increase of 2% starting this Jan. 1. For the average social security recipient that equates to roughly $5 extra per month or $60 for entire year. Commissioner Swanson told us, "I just felt comfortable voting for the pay increases because social security increased 2% for cost of living."
Commissioner Anderson completely disagreed and told us, "I think we need to hire an independent investigator to look at our PUD salaries and compare them with other PUDs our size to see how the pay scales matchup and how fair they really are."
He continued, "as PUD becomes more transparent, our communities are able to see a lot more of what is going on and that makes our jobs as commissioners a whole lot easier."
When we asked the commissioners if they were provided information from comparable PUD districts in regards to their pay rates to aide in their decisions both Commissioners Swanson and Anderson confirmed neither had. We were unable to get into contact with Commissioner Thompson in a timely manner.
Commissioner Swanson told us, "this was the first time in comparable years we haven't been provided pay scales from other districts to aide in our decision, but it's pretty easy information to find so if we looked, we could have gotten it."
Reception from the community has been overwhelming critical in particular to General Manager Dunsmoors monthly salary of $15,289. Once former General Manager Miller is officially retired Dunsmoors salary will increase to $15,671 a month.
The Herald reached out to Grays Harbor County PUD and Mason County PUD 3 and learned that Grays Harbor has just over 42,000 service contracts and their GM makes $195,000 per year. Mason County PUD 3 has around 33,000 service contracts and their GM makes $205,000 per year. Pacific County has 17,000 service contracts and our GM makes $188,000 per year.
Grays Harbor County PUD has roughly two and a half times the amount of service contracts as Pacific County PUD and their GM only makes $7,000 per year more than Dunsmoor.
Breaking down the service contracts to salary ratio to the nearest tenth, the Grays Harbor County PUD GM makes $4.60 per service contract, Mason County PUD 3 GM makes $6.20 per service contract, and Pacific County PUD GM makes $11.00 per service contract.
There are many factors that ultimately factor into salaries and how they are calculated and the above information is just one of the many ways to do so, as with all calculations many factors influence the outcome.
On Jan. 2 Commissioner Anderson asked his fellow commissioners to consider denying soon to be retired Miller his cost of living increase. Miller has been on vacation since September using up the vacation and sick leave he accrued over his lengthy career.
After a brief discussion between the commissioners and Dunsmoor, Anderson dropped his proposed motion because Miller would only receive the increase of $249 for one month as his retirement kicks in Feb. 1.
The Herald requested pay scales from Grays Harbor County PUD, Mason County PUD 3, and Pacific County PUD to compare pay scales and salaries for this article, each were provided within 3 business days.