These SC agency chiefs, college presidents to get pay bump amid economic uncertainty
In June, Marshall Taylor became interim director of the state’s Department of Health and Environment Control amid an ongoing pandemic that is still raging on. His salary of $178,000 a year is the minimum amount for a DHEC executive director under the current salary schedule.
But as the both pandemic and the task of finding a full-time director continue, Taylor remains the person in charge of the agency leading the state’s response to COVID-19. And come Jan. 1, he’s slated to get a nearly $17,000 a year pay increase to $195,000.
Taylor is one of 26 agency heads and college and university presidents who will see their pay bumped up beginning on Jan. 1 after the Agency Head Salary Commission approved increases in salary ranges for agency leaders in order to be more competitive with other states.
“We worked hard over the years to at least try to have a salary range that will at least piqued the interest of quality candidates,” said House Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith, R-Sumter. “We’ve also made sure we have paid those who have done an excellent job that are being recruited by others.”
For several of the positions, the commission also took into account increased job responsibilities.
The increases amount to an increased cost of about $170,000 to the state. The raises benefit 16 agency heads, three 4-year college presidents and seven 2-year college presidents, and come at a time when state leaders are anticipating a debate over whether it can afford to give pay increases to public school teachers and state employees.
However, consideration of pay increases based on merit and job performance was pushed back until after the new year as the pandemic and associated economic uncertainty continues.
Management Consulting company Korn Ferry presented its study last week to the commission and recommended increasing salary ranges for the positions after evaluating job responsibilities and finding they’ve expanded in recent years, and after reviewing market rates and comparisons to nearby states.
Most agency heads in the state also tend to be closer to the minimum of the ranges, and the low pay hurts the state’s competitiveness in attracting candidates, said Bill Reigel, an associate client partner at Korn Ferry.
“A vast majority are in the lower end, making it difficult to attract quality candidates,” Reigel said.
After the range adjustments, 26 agency heads and college presidents will see their pay increased to bring them up to the new minimum.
Among those to see a pay increase include Department of Administration Executive Director Marcia Adams, Socials Services State Director Michael Leach, Election Commission Executive Director Marci Andino and S.C. National Guard Adjutant General Van McCarty.
Some of the increases also took into account increased job responsibilities.
The Department of Juvenile Justice Director Freddie Pough will see his salary increase to $148,612 from $139,066 because the maximum age of service recipients went up to 22 from 18, and the agency added a mental health facility, according to the study.
Denmark Technical College President Willie Todd Jr., Northeastern Technical College Kyle Wagner, and Williamsburg Technical College President Patricia Lee all are set to receive pay bumps as their jobs have become more complex and involve fundraising. They also don’t have staff members to assist in new tasks, according to the Korn Ferry study.
In addition to responding to the pandemic, DHEC’s leader now must coordinate spending of additional federal dollars that come to the department as well as oversee responses to natural disasters, the study says.
The commission’s consideration of merit raises based on performance were deferred until after the new year because of the pandemic.
“Not that I don’t think the agency heads are doing a fantastic job — it’s just in this economic climate and uncertainty I don’t think it would be wise for us to do that, especially in light of the fact we didn’t give any state employees raises,” Smith said.
State legislators have been trying to increase pay for state employees and teachers during the last few years.
The last time state employees received an across the board pay increase was 2016. Workers earning less than $70,000 a year received a one-time $600 bonus in 2019-20, but the additional pay wasn’t permanent, according to the South Carolina State Employees Association.
Base teacher pay was increased to $35,000 in 2019-20.
But legislators held off on further efforts to increase state employee and teacher pay in the last session because of the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
“I cannot say enough of our teachers in this pandemic, our state employees, or our agency heads that all have been working diligently to help the state move forward in this time of crisis,” Smith said. “I don’t want to send a message to them that any of them that any of us working on behalf of the state of South Carolina that ‘we don’t care, we’re not appreciative of your work.’ We just want to make sure we’ve got the money in order to fulfill these promises before we commit to them.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
