Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News that Boyko never reminded them they forgot her raise last year.
“She is mindful of what everybody makes, money is not the driver, I know that seems weird to say, but money for her is not a driver like it is to some people,” Dixon said. “She still works from daylight to 11 p.m. and never said a word about her salary being increased. We really kind of overlooked it with all the other things that were going on.”
They awarded merit raises for the 137 other non-union employees under their control that totaled nearly $342,000 in raises and lump sum payments in the beginning of January.
The commissioners for several years have operated with a two-part performance pay formula that calls for pay hikes in the 1 to 3 percent range added to an employee’s base pay and another 1 to 3 percent available in quarterly lump sum payments.
The commissioners set a 2 percent pool of money from a given department’s total payroll for eligible, non-union employees for the base increases and an equal amount for the lump sum incentive bonuses.
Employees at the top of their pay range cannot receive more than a 4% total lump sum, and 27 people received the top amount, based on a scored performance review. Development Director David Fehr received the largest lump sum allocation at $5,000, after he received the same award in 2020.
Commissioner T.C. Rogers told the Journal-News that Boyko’s compensation adjustments fall outside those regulations, and he is the commissioner in charge of Boyko’s evaluation.
“There was no relation to what we’ve done with other department heads or employees,” Rogers said. “Judi doesn’t have to fix (the situation in Butler County), I think we’re at the top in the state and she is the perfect person to keep us there.”
Boyko’s raise equates to just over 2% per year in one boost. Dixon said he believes her raise should have been higher.
“I don’t know what it would be but it would clearly be more,” Dixon said. “But you can only pay so much. We don’t sell any product, we’re only a service-driven business and that goes for all of our employees really. If you want to make top dollar and your goal is to get the highest amount of money you can, you won’t be working for the government.”
Boyko replaced former county administrator Charlie Young, who started with a $125,000 salary — he had no county government experience — and left earning $154,790. She was the assistant Hamilton County administrator and served 12 years as West Chester Twp.’s administrator.
She is responsible for a total county budget of $395.5 million, around 600 employees and 14 departments under the commissioners’ direct control and communicating and interacting with 15 other elected officials and seven independent boards.
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