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| Village of Lowville Significantly Increases Annual Salary for Associate Justice 05/20/18 10:00am By: Nick Altmire |
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evening's Board of Trustees meeting, Village Trustees' unanimously approved a significant increase in salary for the Associate Justice position. The Associate Justice, an appointed position, fills in when the elected Village Justice is unavailable or has a conflict with a pending case. The position also assists the elected Village Justice as needed. Under the former format, passed in the Village budget last month, the Associate Justice position was budgeted at $1,500 per year, with the Associate Justice paid a per diem rate based on the scope of the work for each instance needed. Rates were included for an arraignment, taking the bench, filing paperwork and other tasks. Under this format, the Associate Justice was only paid when acting as Justice. Justice Jennifer Scordo, elected as Village Justice in March as a write-in candidate, attended Wednesday evening's meeting, requesting that the Associate Justice salary be increased to $5,376 per year. Ms. Scordo indicated the position wasn't properly funded and an increase was necessary to compensate the workload of the Associate Justice and, in part, to cover a list of potential conflicts Ms. Scordo may encounter as Justice. Ms. Scordo said the Associate Justice would be needed to work 28 hours each month. Using an hourly rate of $16 per hour multiplied by 28 hours per month over twelve months, she arrived at an annual salary of $5,376 per year. She noted this would likely be more cost effective than paying the Associate Justice on a per diem basis. Ms. Scordo, who is also the court attorney for Lewis County Judge Daniel R. King, told the board her position there can create conflicts with cases on the Village of Lowville docket that need to be handled by Associate Justice Rikki Stanton. Ms. Scordo also indicated she had potential conflicts with Attorney Kevin McCardle. Ms. Stanton would need to handle those cases as well. Additionally, Ms. Scordo said she has a potential conflict of interest with one of the Village's largest landlords, making any litigation in those matters necessary for the Associate Justice to hear. Ms. Scordo apparently notified the board in a letter that she is unavailable to perform arraignments on weekends during the summer. Trustee Dan Salmon inquired on the availability during the meeting, with Ms. Scordo clarifying that "if the weather is nice" she would not be available, but if it was rainy she would likely be available. Arraignments are necessary when an individual is arrested, being the middle of the night or on weekends. Ms. Stanton would need to cover any arraignments for those weekends as well. Trustees indicated budgetary requests of this nature are best presented at budget time, where each department submits their requests for the year ahead. The Village just finished this process, passing their annual budget at their April meeting. Budget requests for this cycle were due prior to Ms. Scordo's election to office. Ms. Scordo said that the Associate Justice position hasn't been adequately funded in the past, with former Associate Justices not compensated for their time unless they were acting as Justice. She indicated the Village was potentially violating labor laws by not properly compensating the time the position requires. Ms. Scordo said that the position is meant to assist the Justice with the heavy caseload as well, not just fill-in when the Justice is unavailable. Ultimately, the board unanimously approved moving the Associate Justice to an annual salary of $5,376. The elected Justice salary remains at $10,250 annually. The board also discussed seeking an exemption for the Court Clerk position from Civil Service and set the salary for that position at $21,840 annually. The Court Clerk is the only full-time employee in the Village justice system. Following an executive session, the board also approved annual pay increases for administrative positions. The Village Clerk/Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Works and Police Chief will see a 3% increase, while the Deputy Village Clerk will see a 3.5% increase. |
