Is Wabash County Health Department administrator Judy Wissel vastly overpaid? Or is her pay commiserate of her education, training, duties, and is comparable to other health department administrators? That’s the question the Wabash County Board of Health will face when they meet on January 13th.
The issue was first broached publicly last month when Wabash County Commissioner Rob Dean (who also has a seat on the Board of Health) said Wissel’s pay went from $85,000 in 2019 to just over $140,000 during the pandemic year of 2020. Dean said the increase in Wissel’s pay was due in large part from her being transitioned from a salary to hourly pay in 2018. With the pandemic causing a huge amount of overtime, Wissel’s pay went up $55,000 last year compared to the previous year. In 2017, Wissel’s pay was just under $64,000.
But, Wissel contends there was never a change from salary to hourly and that she’s always been an hourly employee. As for her big jump in pay last year, Wissel pointed to the minutes of the health board’s meeting on June 26th, of 2020 at which time all board members, including Dean, approved a wage increase proposal Wissel had submitted.
Wabash County Health Department Board of Health 6/26/20 meeting minutes supplied by Judy Wissel.
As we previously reported, Dean’s motion to cut Wissel’s pay was voted down by the health board at their November meeting.
After that meeting, Wissel sent information to the board that compared her salary to other health department administrators in Illinois:
Madison County – salaried, hazard pay bonus
Crawford County – Hourly $39/hr, has not completed her first year yet, was paid overtime
Jackson County – Salary at $89,300 but was also paid overtime for any time over 45 hours a week
Egyptian – PH Administrator (working under the CEO $100,000/yr) works 35 hours a week $73,000/year – was paid for approx. 600 hours of overtime
Randolph County – Union employees working under a contract – she is paid overtime and guaranteed the same annual increase over the next three years
Jasper County– Hourly, approx. $74,000 – paid overtime for well over the 600 hours and also was paid hazard pay.
Bond County – Salary $93,366 – flexes time when able to do so
East Side Health District – Salary $100,000 and received hazard pay
Douglas County – Salary $105,000 and received hazard pay
Wayne County – Salaried – received hazard pay on two occasions – in her first year as administrator
Clay County - $120,000 salary – received hazard pay
Jefferson County – Salaried – received hazard pay
But, Dean dismissed those figures saying for example the Crawford County number is skewed because the administrator oversees both Lawrence and Crawford Counties and oversees four divisions. Comparatively, he said Wissel is paid $48 an hour for a 40 hour week and $72/hour for overtime. He also pointed out Jackson County’s health department serves communities with 52,974 in population (2020 Census data) while Wabash County is considerably smaller.
Dean is also concerned Wissel’s $140,000 a year pay will affect the county’s payments to IMRF putting local taxpayers for Wissel’s retirement for years to come. In the email to the health board, Wissel attached a document from IMRF that she contends shows the following increases in reported earnings may be considered for an exemption: Overtime, increase in required hours, promotion, vacation payout and collective bargaining agreements. “I do know that several counties, Wayne being one of them that did file an exemption for their administrator that retired,” Wissel stated.
At the Wabash County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, Dean again brought up the subject…
Wissel summarized her side of the issue by telling the health board via email:
1. “We paid all staff overtime that worked over 40 hours/week.
2. All overtime was covered by the COVID grants dollars.
3. I am, and always have been hourly. To the recollection of everyone here – the HD has not had any salaried positions for over 20 years.
4. I monitor finances closely for each grant and for the overall agency and would never jeopardize the finances of this agency.
5. I am serving as Health Department Administrator and Director of Behavior Health.
6. I hold a Master’s Degree, a national certification and State License which is not required for many other county positions.”
At the November health board meeting, only Dean and board secretary C. J. Peach voted in favor of amending Wissel’s pay. Despite the defeat of his motion last month, Dean says the issue will be revisited next month at the January 13th health board meeting.