2015 Pay for Putnam County Executive, Legislators and Clerk Holds Steady for 3rd Year

Some officials get raises

By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong

Pay in 2015 for Putnam County’s executive, select officials and nine county legislators will hold steady at 2013 and 2014 levels, but some county administrators will receive raises, under salary provisions adopted by the county legislature at its formal Year-End Meeting in Carmel, Dec. 22.

The legislature’s action followed its Oct. 29 adoption of a 2015 budget whose numerous pages include personnel expenditures, grouped department by department, without details of individual compensation. Raises for key managers-administrators were considered in legislative workshops before the October budget vote. The fiscal year begins Jan. 1.

For 2015, County Executive MaryEllen Odell’s pay will again be $148,635.

Legislators will get $35,136 each, as in the two previous years. In addition to the base pay, Legislature Chairman Carl Albano will receive a stipend of $8,783 for wielding the gavel and handling related responsibilities.

As county clerk, Michael Bartolotti, who won the race in November to succeed retiring Clerk Dennis Sant, will be paid $119,494, the amount Sant received in 2013 and 2014. Sheriff Donald Smith’s compensation will continue at $137,273, also as in 2013 and 2014.

However, District Attorney Adam Levy will get more money. His 2015 pay will be $167,300 — up from $165,657 in 2014 (which in itself was an increase over his 2013 salary of $158,933).

The two officials charged with running elections, the Republican and Democratic commissioners Anthony Scannapieco and Catherine Croft, respectively, will make $79,477 each, a figure that reflects an ongoing increase for that role, implementing an upgrade planned for several years. Pay for the commissioners was $63,477 in 2013, when Scannapieco and Robert Bennett served in office, and $71,477 in 2014, after Croft joined Scannapieco by taking over from Bennett, who retired in late 2013.

Highway and Facilities Commissioner Fred Pena’s salary will increase slightly from the 2014 amount of $121,000 to $122,210 for 2015. Finance Commissioner William Carlin also will get a little more than before, earning $132,576, compared to $131,263 for 2014. For 2015, the pay of Health Commissioner Allen Beals, a lawyer as well as a physician, will go up to $167,000 from 2014’s figure of $150,000.

Transportation Program Manager Vincent Tamagna, a resident of Philipstown and its former representative on the county legislature, will draw $75,750 in 2015, an increase of $750 over 2014. Pat Sheehy’s pay as director of the Office for Senior Resources will climb by $900 to $90,900.

The legislature ratified all the salaries with no discussion. Odell’s salary and those of a few others can be contested by citizens through a permissive referendum, a public vote held if certain legal criteria are met.